


Basketball Guys are Hot

by metreora



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Best Friends, F/F, F/M, Romantic Comedy, Ron Weasley is a Good Friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2019-11-08 11:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 27,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17980151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/metreora/pseuds/metreora
Summary: After transferring High Schools from Ontario, California, Kyla Herrera joins her new school's cheerleading squad and finds herself with the team that brings out her personality to the fullest. But, just as she's getting familiar, Kyla developes a crush on the basketball team's leader, Tyler Joseph. With the help of her new six friends, the group go through tangles of lies, secrets and crazy situations along the ride.





	1. First Day Jitter

Kyla felt her heart pick up in speed as her mom's car neared her new High School. She wiped away the sweat that began to increase on her palms on her yellow flanneled designed skirt and let out a nervous sigh.

She thought she had shaken away her anxious feelings the day before but it seemed they had only came back stronger and that left a worried flare over her face.

Her mom caught her expression and slowed down the car as she drove along the student drop off area. She stopped it with a hard tug and glanced over to her daughter, her eyebrows nitted together as she observed Kyla’s behavior.

"You'll be fine, Kyla, it's just the first day. Not like you haven't been here before." Her mom's voice was soft and caused Kyla to look back at her. The pout on her lips let her mother know that this time everything would be different. This wasn't like any other before, she was going to be the new student and that changed everything.

It wasn't like she could just walk in there and go straight to her friends from last year. She had to make  _new_ friends, actually talk to _new_ people. 

Her mom grabbed her shoulder and squeezed it gently, a reassuring smile tugging her lips and sending a supportive signal to her daughter.

"You've got this, show 'em who's the baddest bitch out there." Her mom's words were stern and uplifting and Kyla automatically felt a calmer wave cast over her. With a halfhearted laugh and a quick peck to her mother's cheek, Kyla said her quiet goodbye and stepped out of the car.

Her mom gave her one last wave and then drove off, leaving Kyla to stand alone and watch the other kids walk up the stairs to the school. Her eyes traveled with her as she studied her surroundings, taking in the nature that surrounded the area and the old brick details of the huge school.

She clutched her bag tightly in her right hand and urged her legs to move, her heart yet again rising and causing her blood to rush. She convinced herself to breathe in slowly, letting her legs ease into a swift walk up the stairs and push passed the enterence doors.

The inside looked just as it did on the website but only older and more dull in color. She wasn't surprised it didn't look as good as it did in the pictures. 

She walked carefully with the crowd and looked down at her phone, using it as a guide to her classes. She had no idea where any of them were and started to get worried that she'd be late to her first period.

She looked around and saw a girl with wide circular glasses standing by the opening that seemed to lead to the cafeteria. Kyla took a deep breath before walking over to the girl and held out her phone in her view.

"Hi, I'm new here and I was hoping you could show me where this class is?" She shut her eyes for a second in cringe at how pathetic she sounded and opened them to see the other girl smile brightly at her.

"Oh, 215? That’s upstairs!" She pointed above their heads and Kyla looked up to the long staircase that lead to the second floor. Her old school had stairs as well but they weren't as dragged out as these were and she tried to hide her irritation.

She really had to climb those everyday for the next year and a half?

"Here, I'll walk you up there." The girl pocketed her own phone and turned on her heel, Kyla following suit and finally sliding over the other strip of her backpack onto her left shoulder. She eyed the back of the girl's head and quickly looked her up and down, noticing the jeans she wore and the tight belt around her waist.

_Waist snatched!_

She shook her head and caught up to the girl on the stairs, her hand clasped to the dark blue bar to her right so not to lose her balance.

Imagine her tripping up the stairs on her first day at her new school.

What a joke.

She continued to walk besides the girl and watched the numbers of each room ongo in a count higher and higher.

"I'm Hannah, by the way." The girl said aloud and Kyla took note, giving her a shy smile as they turned a corner. 

"Kyla." She responded and glanced back down to the phone in her left hand. When Hannah stopped, Kyla had to steady her steps to keep from bumping into her. Hannah turned around and pointed to the door opened in front of them.

"There she is, the Holy chemistry room. Mr. Miller teaches this class, he's not the friendliest but he's not so bad. The bell hasn't rang yet so it looks like you're the first one here."  The girl chattered, puffing her cheeks out as she held onto her backpack. 

Kyla nodded as she listened along to Hannah's words and walked into the empty class. She looked around and counted the amount of desks in the room. She read the teacher's name on the whiteboard and went back over to where Hannah was in the hall.

_Okay, so lots of kids. Surely I can befriend at least one of them..._

"Thanks for helping me." Kyla added and Hannah gave her another welcoming smile. She shook her hand in front of her and pointed to Kyla's figure in the doorframe.

"No problem at all, it's easy to get lost in this place. See you around!" She replied and waved her hand before turning away, disappearing around the corner.

Kyla strutted into the quiet room again and traveled to the back of the class, picking out a seat and calling it her own. Sitting towards the front was always so awkward, being so close to the teacher’s desk and having to worry about who might be staring at you from behind just wasn’t ever appealing. 

She waited for the bell to ring and when it did, it caught her unexpectedly. She heard the loud noise echo through the vacant space and covered her ears as it carried on. When the ring finally stopped, Kyla could've sworn she still heard it and went to slap the side of her head when she saw someone walk into the room out of the corner of her eye. 

He wore a dark blue hoodie and black jeans that paired down with black shoes. His hair was a dark shade of brown and he carried what looked like a light backpack of nothing but air. Kyla started to feel a little silly for staring at him but she had to admit, he was pretty cute.

Her eyes perked back to the doorway as other students entered the room, chattering starting to fill up the air and many voices progressing through the closed walls. She watched as a duo of girls walked in and went towards where the boy sat.

The tables were black and only allowed two people to sit at a time, which meant she had a partner. Hopefully it wouldn't be someone rude or someone that talked a lot, she couldn't stand loud, talkative people.

The stool she was on started to cramp up her butt and she had to stand up to re-adjust her position. When she sat back down, she was surprised to see the other chair taken by another girl. 

The girl paid no attention to her and didn't even bother to look up from her phone. Kyla titled her head as she pondered whether she should introduce herself or hold back from doing so.The girl set her phone down as a rich toned voice interupted the converse of the class.

"Alright, everyone get out your notebooks and turn to the notes from yesterday. We got a lot of writing to do." The tall man said and sat at the desk in the left corner of the room, clearing his throat.

_Not the friendliest but not so bad.._

Kyla repeated Hannah's words in her head and pulled out a yellow notebook from her backpack, setting it out in front of her. Her mom told her to pack things anyway in case any of her teachers told her to use them but Kyla didn't see a point in bringing stuff on the first day as most people didn't care to. 

Though by first day, it usually meant the actual first day not Kyla's sudden transfer five months into the school year. Who even transferred halfway through a school year? 

Kyla rolled her eyes at her parents' sudden change of their lives but ignored the thought and looked onward to the screen displayed in front of her. She began to write down the notes from the presentation and decided now would be a good time to interact with her neighbor as she needed last class' notes. 

"Hey..could I borrow your notes?" Kyla whispered to the right and dropped her pencil into her notebook. She awaited for the other girl's response and turned her body more towards her. The girl finished writing the last words displayed and gave her attention to Kyla's direction.

"Didn't you get them?" She asked emotionlessly and Kyla looked at her confusingly. Did someone else sit here yesterday? She would've known if there was another person besides her, right?

Kyla shook her head and held her hands together while looking back to her open notebook."No, I'm new." She laughed awkwardly and nibbled on her bottom lip. The girl blinked and pointed to her journal before looking back at Kyla.

"Yeah, you can use them." She muttered and placed her notebook on top of Kyla's and went back to texting on her phone. Kyla sat a little longer confused but held open the brunette’s notebook and copied down the words inside.

 Just as she finished, she saw the class break up and move across the room to sit with their friends. The girl besides her got up and walked away from their table and yet again, Kyla was left alone to discern the bodies around her.

She tapped her pencil on her closed notebook and thought about her old school, her old friends circling her mind and a frown came upon her features. She wondered how they were getting on without her and if they were still going to call or text her now that she wasn't there to be in physical presence.

She found herself to be missing them a lot more than she actually thought she would. It felt so lonesome without someone to hold a conversation with but she tried to see things with a positive outlook; she had a real chance to start new and make new beginnings.

She was basically just following through the word's of her mom but that didn't make any of it less tranquil sounding! She really  _did_ have this opportunity and if she didn't take it, what was the point?

She could try talking to her table mate again but after their first exchange, Kyla was a bit a taken back. It was just a really weird experience that she hadn't expected. But, that alone shouldn’t have to be her only impression of the other and she could turn it all around by becoming her friend.

As Kyla thought over her next actions and what she would say to the girl, she hadn't noticed someone walk up to her. The person stood there for a few seconds before snapping their fingers once more in front of Kyla's spaced-out face.

"Hey, you the new girl?" A curly haired girl called out to her and finally grabbed Kyla's attention. Kyla's eyes averted back to normal and she looked up to the short other, her eyes admiring the girl’s fitted glasses.

Kyla nodded her head and waited for the girl to talk again, surprised by the sudden draw of her attention. The girl glanced back over her shoulder and then held out her hands towards another table.

"You wanna be in our group? For the lab?" She shrugged her shoulders and dropped her arm. Kyla's expression changed and she peeked around to all the other tables, noticing now people were gathered to each one talking close amongst themselves. 

She must've missed when the teacher assigned them groups and was most likely the only one alone. She then peered back up to the girl and smiled stilly. After replying in a hushed tone, Kyla followed the girl back to her table and sat across from another girl and the boy from earlier.

"Guys, this is the girl Hannah was talking about. Though, seems I'm lacking to remember your name..." The short girl trailed off and Kyla picked off from where she left.

"Kyla, my name's Kyla." She said and watched as the other girl took acknowledge of but the boy only lifted his eyebrows in return. The curly haired girl sat back down besides the boy after pulling out a chair for Kyla to sit on from one of the other tables. 

"Hi Kyla, I'm Abby." A slightly taller girl than the last gave a small wave and Kyla twinkled her fingers back in reply. Everyone's eyes trailed to the boy on the right and they waited for him to introduce himself.

"Ah, he's not having the best of mornings. That's Tyler and I'm Chantel." The girl from before said and Kyla pursed her lips, her focus on Tyler's tan nose.

_Woah, perfectly sloped._

The two girls sat up straight and watched as their teacher past out worksheets and canisters to work from. He filled one with blue liquid and another with what appeared to be some kind of clear strong smelling chemical. 

Kyla's eyes kept flickering back to Tyler whom had his head lifted up off the table by Chantel's sturdy arm.

"Move your big head, idiot. Unless you want your eyes to burn off." Tyler nudged away Chantel's hand and sat back in his chair, his hands coming to a stop in the front pocket of his hoodie.

Abby reached out for a pair of goggles that lay in the center of the table and handed one to each person. Kyla took hers with ease and slipped them onto her face, a pray that her makeup didn't smudge from the action. 

Abby had to smack Tyler's arm to get him to grab his pair and he stubbornly put his on, Chantel rolling her eyes as she had to fit hers perfectly with her glasses underneath.

"Without these bad boys, I'd totally be blind and bumping into shit." She clicked the side of her face and Kyla chuckled. Abby wrote down each member's name on the worksheet and held the paper in her lap.

The teacher explained the instructions and Chantel did her best to listen carefully to what was being ordered. She picked up the clear capsule and used a tiny baster to squeeze in droplets of the liquid into the blue one.

The four watched as bubbles formed and waited for more orders. Abby looked up from answering question one on the worksheet and grinned at Kyla.

"Did you ever do stuff like this at your old school, Kyla?" She addressed and Kyla nodded in response.

"Oh, yeah, all the time. I usually didn't do the actual handy work, though, because I didn't want my clothes to get ruined." She laughed sheepishly and Abby giggled. 

"Yeah, I get you. That's why Chantel does most of it all the time, her clothes are already so foul." She covered her mouth with her right hand and snickered into it.

"Hey! My outfits can be ugly sometimes but at least I'm clean! I'm not Tyler." Chantel snorted at Tyler's expression and Abby continued to laugh more in the corner.

Tyler shook his head and let his chin rest on his right hand as his elbow held him up. "Okay, man, I am not dirty. Re-wearing the same jeans in one week doesn't qualify as being dirty—I've told you this!" He squinted his eyes and bit down on his bottom lip, catching Kyla's look from over Chantel's head.

"They don't ever listen." He muttered to her and Kyla's smile widened. Tyler rolled his eyes before darting them back to the experiment in front of them and taking the blue container to observe closely.

The teacher gave out futher instructions and this time Tyler took control, pouring more of the clear liquid into the blue tube and shaking it around. Abby gasped and swatted away Tyler's hand.

"He didn't say shake it, Tyler! He's going to mess everything up again." Her tone came off annoyed and Chantel smacked Kyla's arm playfully.

"He does this all the time. Stupid-ass can't ever get it right." Kyla looked back to Tyler and Abby and watched as they bickered together over who was in charge and who should continue doing the activity.

"Just let the master do it, guys. I got it, I got it." Chantel butted in and flicked both of their foreheads as she got up from her seat and over to the other side of the table. She picked up with blue tube and poured it into the clear one without realizing she hadn't been told to.

Everyone stared at her brave movements and Tyler sat back while laughing, Abby's hands coming to her face before hitting Chantel's shoulder as Kyla's mouth hanged open in shock.

The two liquids began to foam together and started oozing out from the top of the tube, leaking over the table.

"Oh, dude! It's gonna burn through!" Chantel's voice increased in volume and she backed away from the table, her hands coming to the side of her face in surprise. Tyler continued to laugh and Abby tried to shake him to stop his taunting. 

Kyla rose from her seat and kept her mouth covered with her hands, suppressing her laughter as she watched Chantel stack papers on the liquid, the action smearing the already doomed and she lay a few under the table to catch the drips.

The other students heard the commotion and a small huddle formed towards the back that caught the teacher's attention. He hurried over and his facial expression dropped when he realized what he was looking at it. 

"Of course." He said aloud and shuffled around the crowd of kids to get paper towels from a cabinet above the sinks. Abby and Tyler jogged to Chantel's side of the room and the students stared as the teacher cleaned up the mess.

He hollered over the voices and told everyone to get back to their original seating as he called the office for a janitor to help clean up the rest. The four twiddled their fingers in a line as they stood by the door, exactly where the teacher had demanded them to be.

The entire class watched for a few more minutes, later turning back to talk in a quick bore. 

Everyone listened as Kyla and Abby tried to plead out their innocence of the matter. The teacher asked Kyla to explain what happened slowly, not being able to figure out or connect the story with all four yelling and pointing at each other.

Kyla stepped forward and put her hand to her chest as she started off the explanation. She knowingly made it very clear that she had no play in what happened and kept her voice in a neutral tone.

Tyler laughed as she was talking and the teacher glared at him briefly before turning his attention back to Kyla. Chantel nudged Tyler's side and the three awed at how easily Kyla talked her way out of it.

"Okay, so who is willing to confess?" The teacher directed his view to the standing duo by one another and Chantel prepared to use her smart talk like Kyla's to peel away her own punishment. Tyler raised his eyebrow and readied his ears for Chantel's bullshit version of the story.

"I swear, Mr. Miller, it wasn't me. Tyler shook the tube and it spilt everywhere." She said and backed away enough from Tyler to point at him. Tyler's mouth dropped open and he instantly denied her lie, shaking his hands out in front of himself to assure the teacher he wasn't the culprit.

"What? It wasn't me! She's totally lying, Coach!" Tyler glared to Chantel and swiped away at her evil smirk across her lips. She did this everytime! Half of the occurrences weren't even his fault, she always blamed it on him. 

The coach turned to the lone member and Abby tapped her chin as she decided. She could easily turn in either one of the two or she could sit this one out and let them battle it out. She was the usual one to lay the pieces together and left the teacher to rely on her to tell the truth.

Abby connected hers and Kyla's eyes and smiled, facing back upward to the teacher and putting her hands on her hips.

"It was both of them, sir. They were both messing around." She added proudly and bit her lip to keep from grinning at the duo's reactions. The coach sighed and scratched his forehead as he looked back to their table, a janitor already on the scene to clean up. 

He let another huff of air past his lips and pointed two strong fingers to them, his eyebrows lifting high. "I'm giving you guys tomrrow to confess. I just need one of you to take it and serve a lunch detention." He walked away from the four and left them to pick out who was going for the fall.

Chantel and Tyler turned to each other and held up a fist to each's face, their noses nearly touching when Chantel stood to her tippy toes. 

"I'm not taking that detention, that's the only time I see Kirst." She spoke firmly and Tyler crossed his arms over his chest. Abby and Kyla stood by as they witnessed their arugment, the banter actually coming off as quite entertaining.

"No way, I didn't do anything. I'm not taking the fall again!" Tyler dramatically sighed, Chantel tossing him a push to his shoulder and snagging her arm around his neck.

"Come on, buddy, just this once. Swear next time I'll take it." She dragged out her words and her fingers twigged in Tyler's brown curls, her tip toes still being used.

"You swear next time?" Tyler pressed on again, his stern eyes on Chantel's face. Chantel nodded and pat chest with a firm smile.

"Yeah, totally." She said, winking to Kyla and letting Tyler out from her embrace. Tyler scoffed and walked back to their table, pulling his bag from off the ground and holding it over his shoulders. 

The other three did just as he and they stood together as the bell rang, Kyla's happy atmosphere morphing into one of a more nervous kind as she took out her phone for her next class. Before Abby took left, she stayed behind to talk with Kyla.

"Need help finding your next class?" She questioned and Kyla nodded, holding out her phone for the youth to see the class number. Abby memorized the number and searched around in her head for a perfect path to the room.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure that's downstairs. I think it's near the art room. I pass it when I go to my art class." She said genuinely and pat Kyla's left shoulder to start off their walk. Abby would actually be thankful if Kyla made her late to her next period, world history not being her most fond of class.

The two girls talked on their way to Kyla's class and they looked around casually as Abby explained more of the school. Kyla's stomach felt like there were butterflies swarming as she realized she was already making new friends. 

Abby walked her down the hall and knocked on the door for her, Kyla's smile turning into a boring line as they entered the class. Abby smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up.

"I'll come back to walk you to your next class after the bell, okay?" 

Kyla nodded and looked around the class filled with peering eyes after Abby left. She took her place in a seat to the far right of the room near a giant window. 

She looked foward ahead and saw the course she was in, pulling out a red notebook and opening it to a blank page. 

She listened as her teacher gave a kid papers to hand out and watched as he past them to the owners of the work. She sat back as she waited for the teacher to come over and fill her in on what they were doing. 

Her attention was suddenly taken by the back of this girl's head a few rows away from her seat. She blinked a few times before looking back at the girl again. 

_Purple hair? Purple hair! What the hell, they let you dye your hair here?_

She let herself have a few more stares before she tore her eyes from the girl's head to the teacher now walking over to her.

"Hey, honey. Kyla, right?" The woman spoke softly and Kyla nodded her head, now sitting up in her seat as the teacher addressed her. She smiled to the woman and held her pencil in her hand, fiddling it a bit.

"I recommend you just sit back and watch today's class and tomorrow, I'll have a favorite student of mine help you out with getting settled in." The woman said and pointed her pen to a tall light brown haired girl rows in front of where Kyla was sat.

Again, Kyla nodded, doodling in her notebook as she leaned her back into her seat.

The class went by fast and before she knew it, she was back with Abby in no time. The girls had already warmed up to each other and Kyla really felt more comfortable than how she first came in.

It was lunch time and she felt like if she didn’t eat soon she was going to lose her mind. She had her fingers crossed all morning that this school's lunch would be better than her last's. She entered the large cafeteria and whispered under her breath about the size as she followed Abby around the court.

Abby explained the four lines of the regular food section and the additonal four lines of the mexican food area. Even though just two of those sections were actually used, Abby made the effort to add detail to what was served in them.

She invited Kyla to sit with her at a table with a few other and as they approached the round table, Kyla saw a few familiar faces.

Kyla smiled when she sat down, Abby to her left side and Chantel in the middle; sandwiched between the girl with purple hair from her math class and herself. The girl that helped her find her first class, Hannah, and another two girls she didn't recognize. Then Tyler sat left of Hannah and in total that added up to...

"Eight of us if you're down to be in our crew..?" Chantel questioned and all eyes fell back onto Kyla. Kyla's cheeks tinted pink for a moment before she finally nodded.

"Sure." Her voice was quiet and the whole table besides Tyler, whom had his mouth stuffed with food, cheered. Everyone laughed in unison and Kyla's attention was directed back to the few girls at the table.

"This is Kirst. Careful with her, she's a huge softie. She even cries during _Cat in the Hat_." Chantel leaned close to Kyla and whispered the last part in her ear, leaving Kyla to laugh and dart her eyes to Kirst. 

"Those other two boneheads, if you haven't met them, are Hayley and Alysha---she likes going by Lysh." Chantel introduced the girls across from Kyla and the girl waved to them as Chantel gestured her hand at Lysh. 

"Leech for short." Chantel snickered and Lysh rolled her eyes, tossing a fry in Chantel's direction as the younger sat back down.

"She's the oldest and still gets bullied." Everyone laughed but Lysh shook her head sarcasticly, munching on a fry in snide behavior.

"You hungry?" Abby asked Kyla and the girl tried not to nod eagerly, the aches in her stomach starting to become unbearable. "Come on, let's go see what they got." Abby said and the two stood from the table and left the others to continue to tease Tyler about his apparent new haircut. 

Abby walked Kyla over to one of the lunch lines and watched as a lady wrapped a burrito for her, her stomach rumbling as she eyed the food. She took the plate in her hands with care and watched as Abby put toppings on her own burrito.

They sauntered back to their table and the girls sat down, Abby picking up the bottle of water she bought and sipped from it. Kyla bit into her burrito and let the interesting flavor fill her mouth. 

 _Hm, okay, not as bad as my old school's_.

"So, Kyla, what was your old school like?" Hannah directed her question to Kyla just as she put down her drink. What a coincidence.

She placed her nearly half eaten burrito down on her plate and wiped her hands with her napkin.

"I guess it was like any other school; pretty boring looking and smelled weird all the time," She said with a smile as Hannah nodded along to what she explained, "I was in choir where I met most of my friends. I didn't chose it here, though." Kyla tapped her finger to the table and brought her drink to her lips.

Hannah's eyes sparked and she pointed her thumb over to her left and laughed a little as Tyler let his attention fall on her sudden movement. "Tyler's in choir! He has a wonderful voice but he's too scared to sing in front of us. What a wimp, huh?" She teased him and ruffled the tips of his brown hair before turning back to her food.

Kyla watched Tyler's reaction and titled her head in his direction. "Why are you scared?" She didn't want to intrude but she was curious.

Tyler shrugged and before he could reply, Chantel cut him off as she pointed at the boy. “I keep telling him if he can play basketball in front of the whole school, he can easily sing for us. But the loser keeps holding back!" She glared at him and Tyler rolled his eyes.

"The choir teacher always tells us how talented and unique his voice really is but for some reason he just won't sing for us, not even a little note!" Kirst piped in.

Lysh shook her hands out in front of her and Hayley replied quickly when she tried to defend Tyler. “Whatever, Lysh, you're the only one who has actually  _heard_ his voice. Selfish!"

Chantel filled in Kyla and told her the two shared a choir class and that's how they met. Kyla listened to the entire table bash Tyler and laughed along with the teasing.

"Anyway, what electives did you take instead, Kyla?" Lysh looked up from her sandwich and waited for Kyla to respond. Kyla looked back down at her phone and scrolled through the schedule she had open.

"I decided to take home ec and an art class." She blinked back up to Lysh and the older girl shrugged across the table to Abby. "Are you in the same class with Abby?" 

The two shared an expression and Kyla handed her phone over to Abby to investigate, Chantel and Kirst caught up in their own conversation and not paying attention to the others.

"Kirst, don't be such a loser. Just come with us this weekend— I swear it won't even be as bad as last time." She pleaded and Kirst continued to shake her head, her pointer finger coming up in front of Chantel's face and motioned in a decline sway.

"Nope! Last time failed so badly, Chantie. You don't even like rollercoasters, why do you want to go so badly? Just take someone else!" Kirst replied and held a stern look over her face but Chantel saw through the fake barrier.

"Aw, you know you want to go. I'm telling you, it seriously won't go to shit this time. Plus, what happened was an accident, you gotta let it go!" Kyla high fived Abby as they saw their joint art class but couldn't help as she listened to the girls' bickering behind her.

"What happened last time?" She interupted and Chantel made fearful eye contact with Kirst before smiling devishly and turning back to Kyla.

"Dumbass got cheese spilt all over her. Was in her hair and everything!" Chantel laughed and Kirst smacked her right shoulder in a playful manner.

"Hey! Don't tell her that, she'll think I'm a loser! You're the one who was messing around and got it on me!" Her voice rang high and Chantel continued to laugh more.

"You  _are_ a loser if you don't come with us this weekend!" Chantel's sharp tongue argued back and left the other girl feeling defeated.

Kirst rolled her eyes as a smile creased over her mouth and she tossed her head to the side, finally agreeing to attend the group's meetup at the amusement park.

Chantel offered Kyla to come join them and Kyla said she'd have to ask her mom but she was certain she'd be able to come along. Hannah groaned as she looked up from her phone, catching an important message from her gymnastics coach.

"I don't know if I'll be able to make it guys, Miss Saunders set up new plans for gymnastics." A pout stored on Hannah's face and Kyla furrowed her eyebrows. Chantel's shoulders flew up to her neck and she leaned in close to the girl.

"Really, dude? You already promised to skip guard practice with us, just skip this thing, too." Kyla's head titled to Chantel's words and she opened her mouth to comment.

"You guys are in color guard?" She asked and everyone nodded their heads, her surprise seeming rather obvious as she lay her hands on her lap.

"Even you?" She directed her words to Chantel and their friends erupted in teases. 

"Yeah, but I'm not really a " _flag girl_ ". I just spin things. It's easy credit but I still have to learn the drills." She rolled her eyes and Kirst shoved her shoulder into Chantel's to cease her shit talk. 

"Cool, think I can join? I've always wanted to be in color guard!" Kyla exclaimed and everyone smiled warmly to her enthusiasm. Abby and Hannah exchanged a look but eventually bobbed their heads happily.

"I think we can fit you in! But I’ve gotta warn you, there are a _lot_ of people involved." Hannah said and Tyler snorted in the corner, folding the wrapper of the piece of gum he was chewing. Hannah crushed the paper with her hand and the action shook the table.

"To all of which suck." He stated and all the girls yelled remarks at him. He sat back in his seat and lifted his hands in the air defensively. Chantel watched as they shouted at him but she only shrugged her shoulders and laughed with Tyler.

"We do it because it's fun, asshole!" Abby called over their many voices and Tyler stuck his tongue out at her.

"Doesn't excuse you being bad at it." He carried on and everyone collectively flicked their middle fingers hard against his forehead, Kyla giggling as she watched. 

The bell rang and everyone parted ways, Chantel pulling Kirst's arm into hers as they strutted up the stairs and the three other girls walked towards the left side of the cafeteria, disappearing down the hall. Tyler walked besides Abby and Kyla as they circled around the school.

Tyler shot them a finger gun with his right hand and turned down a different hall, leaving the two to skip past the rooms in search of their art class. They entered the room and Abby pulled up a seat besides her for Kyla.

Abby showed her a quick tour around the classroom and used her  her own work as examples. Kyla's eyes widened in awe as she looked over one of Abby's drawings, it was heavily detailed and the shading really contrasted well against the tan coloring of the milla paper.

"You're really good!" Kyla exclaimed and Abby shushed away Kyla's compliments, returning the paper to her folder and the two walked back to their seats.

Abby explained that just about everyone in her family had the talent and she just assumed it was genetic to be awesome; the joke causing Kyla to laugh out.

The class grew quiet as their teacher gave out instructions on their assignment, a list of supplies they would need to complete the work and examples of what was expected. 

Abby talked most of the class peirod as art was something she was very passionate about and Kyla didn't mind, it was interesting to hear the other talk so lovingly about her talent.

When the final bell of the day rang, Kyla pouted, waiting for Abby out in the hall. She didn’t want the day to end, she wanted to be around her new friend longer. 

 Abby turned to Kyla and gave her a smile as they said their goodbyes, the girls outside under the beaming sun.

“I'll see what I can do about getting you onto the color team. It might take a few days to actually process you in but I'm sure you'll make it. I'll see you tomorrow!" 

Kyla returned the smile and she waved as she walked away from Abby, pleased with the output of her first day and already feeling welcomed and more comfortable. She didn't expect everyone to be so nice!

She neared where her mother's car was parked, tossing her backpack into the back seat and opened the passenger's door. She buckled in and let the cool breeze of the car's air conditioning brush over her face and she felt her mom’s eyes on her. 

"Good day?" Her mom asked and a big smile crossed Kyla's face. She nodded joyfully, her contagious smile making her mom’s heart warm. 

"I can't wait for tomorrow!" Kyla geeked and watched the green trees fly by as her mom drove, imagining different scenarios in her head with her new friends. 


	2. Colored Beer

Kyla couldn't believe how fast her first few days were going by. It's already Friday and she was beginning to feel like she'd been at her new school since the start of the year. She was still getting used to her classes and needed a bit more help from Abby or one of the others in their close friend group but she wasn't feeling completely scattered and afraid like a lost puppy anymore.

She had four classes with her friends and another four alone to herself, which wasn't as bad as it sounded. She had the advantage to dawdle with them when she wanted and she had the other periods to take things seriously and be more focused on her work. 

She was still fairly new so her teachers weren't expecting her to be caught up with everything and they let her take her time slowly before they were ready to add her along to the monthly grading cycle. Plus, there was still a lot of paper work needed to be finished until Kyla was perfectly fitted into the school.

Luckily, though, she still had a chance to join the color guard team! Abby had convinced their coach to let Kyla try out and if everything went smoothly, she would be on the team in no time.

That's where she was exactly at right now, watching closely as her friends helped her practice dances until the coach came to watch her perform.

They offered to show her strategies and beneficial tips to express the moves more comfortably and easily. They happily answered any questions Kyla threw at them and they were probably the most encouraging group of people she has ever met.

Currently, Hannah was twirling around a flag in the middle of the gym, her hands holding tightly onto the thin pole. Chantel stood in front of her, the shorter girl’s arms crossed over her chest as she gave out commands. 

"Get your flag up high! You're in gymnastics for a reason, flex that arm!” Her voice echoed through the gym and the other girls giggled to her spoil. Hannah huffed air full of irk out from her nostrils and ignored Chantel's satire comments, continuing to explain the effort involved for a stretch like the one she demonstrated. 

Kyla observed Hannah's motions and took mental notes as she tapped her fingers on her knees that were brought in close to her chest. She sat with her back to a cushioned wall and couldn't help but let her nerves consume her.

"You really just have to control your breathing and if you're able to stand on your tippy toes, this shouldn't be too hard." Hannah dropped her arm to her side, lifting her shoulders as she walked over to sit besides Kyla and placed her flag on the bleachers. 

Kyla exhaled deeply and let her eyes follow Chantel's form as the other jogged across the floor to annoy the girls huddled in the corner near the gym doors. She watched as Abby swatted away Chantel's arm from softly tugging at her ponytail and smiled when Hayley shoved the smaller away from them.

Hannah turned to her and took a sip from the bottle she left next to her string backpack, setting it in her lap and sending Kyla a supportive smile.

"Hey, don't be nervous, coach is nice. I'm sure she'll let you join—I mean, if Becca was able to make it, you should  _definitely_ have a chance _._ " Hannah nudged the older girl's shoulder and bounced back up to her feet and walked over to the rest of the group.

Kyla chuckled and spotted the outcasted teammate on the school's bleachers, a slight glare directed to the brunette girl's back that faced her. It only took her three days to come to terms with the fact that the other was a total jerk. 

She knew in her gut that the experience she had with Becca on her first day in their chemistry class wasn't just a unfortunate misunderstanding; the girl was as snotty as a sick person’s used tissue. 

Clicking her tongue to her teeth and standing up off the floor, Kyla stretched a bit more and eased her joints into the drills she memorized.

There was a loud clap that caught everyone’s attention and all eyes darted to the right as a tall woman walked towards the center of the gym.

"Alright, ladies, let's get this show on the road!" The dark haired woman called to the group and they all gathered around her. The woman pointed over to Kyla and the girl felt her face flush. 

"You're up." She eyed Kyla and brushed away the crowd, all walking over to the benches and sitting as they prepared themselves for Kyla's audition.

Kyla cracked her knuckles and nodded to the coach, positioning herself evenly in the middle of the space and awaited for the music to signal off her movements. She gazed to the bleachers in front of her placement and a smile softened her form when Chantel gave her a thumbs up.

They all focused on her actions, Hannah's captain leadership eyeing and taking note of how Kyla's body moved to the song, carefully watching the flag she swung in the air. 

The song continued to carry through the gym as Kyla swung her arms and legs around her, not a single careless gesture held out to the eight people watching her. Each sway and jump didn't fall out of place and nothing of similarity to an awkward form was shown during the entire performance.

"She's good.." Kirst whispered under her breath, Chantel nodding to her hushed tone and getting up to clap as Kyla closed her routine after the last note of the song ended.

There was a sudden pause of any noise as everyone focused their attention to the brunette coach whom stood with her arms crossed over her chest and her left arm holding her right hand to her chin. She looked to be thinking of what she just viewed and everyone, besides Becca (obviously) had their fingers crossed in hope that she made the team.

Kyla held her stance still as she felt her heart slowly fall back into its normal beating and blew out a puff of air. 

She brought her hands together as she waited for a review the coach had to offer and exchanged anxious faces with the girls behind the intimidating lady between them and her.

"You totally got it." Chantel mouthed and Hannah tried shushing her as she listened closely to what the coach had to say. Their eyes trailed the woman as she walked closer to Kyla.

"Meets are at 5:30 every Wednesday after school and the calendar with games schedules is up on the wall in the locker room." She started and Kyla nibbled on her bottom lip.

Kyla looked at her a bit confusingly and tilted her head, her gaze connecting to the coach's and holding powerfully.

"Does that mean..I made it?" She asked and everyone glanced between the two as they held their breath. The coach nodded and let a smile cross her face as she turned away and went out through the gym doors, listening to the loud cheers that were audible from down the hall.

Kyla jumped in the air as her friends bombarded her with congrats and excited hugs, with one punch to the side of the arm by Chantel.

"I told you you'd get it!" Chantel's vocal carried above the others' and Kyla flashed a bright smile to her. Hannah broke out into a full circle cheer and the girls laughing as they grabbed their bags.

Becca had already left awhile ago and the girls just assumed she felt threatened by Kyla's technique or something else beyond ridiculousness. She really was a piece of work and  _not_ in a good way.

Lysh was planning on picking them up and they needed to be outside the school to wait. It wasn't very late as the sun was barely setting so the group decided having food would be the best way to celebrate Kyla's joining.

Hannah texted Lysh and the crew walked out in search of the elder's car, spotting it a few away and they all rushed to get inside. Lysh drove out of the parking lot and they each threw suggestions on where to go.

"We can just order pizza to my house." Lysh said and glanced up to the little mirror above her head to see the girls in the back. Everyone agreed fairly and thought over the idea, Chantel reaching her arm out from the middle of Kirst and Kyla to pull at Lysh's shirt. 

"Ice cream, too!" She whined and everyone shouted from the backseat. Lysh looked over to Hannah in the passenger's seat and Hananh shrugged in response.

"I don't have ice cream at home. All gone from last week." Lysh directed her last words to Chantel and Abby, the two cracking up. 

Lysh stared forward at the road they were on and turned a left that jerked the car in a way that caused everyone to fall into each other.

"Jeez, dude, drive much?” Chantel questioned and Abby laughed from besides Hayley.

"She does it on purpose, I swear she's trying to kill me." Chantel whispered to Kyla and Kyla's face stained an expression of fake shock.

Kirst adjusted herself in the sandwich she was squished into and moved her hand to her lap.

"We could go to the store?" She mentioned calmly and Chantel nudged her shoulder, the two poking at each other for being so close and bumping side to side.

Lysh looked back at the girls once more and nodded, the steering wheel tight in her grip as she turned another street.

"Okay, but that obviously means I'll have to pay." Her tone was low but not in a very serious manner. She often had to pay for whatever everyone wanted and she was used to it so when anyone asked for anything, she'd already be prepared to buy it.

"Okay, and?" Chantel remarked and Kyla snickered from her left side. Lysh sighed dramatically and shook her head, turning the car into a _Walmart_ parking lot they arrived to. She lived very close by so she expected them to be home in just a few minutes.

"You're lucky I'm even here to buy shit for you." She hopped out of her driver's side and everyone followed after. Hayley shut her door with a slam and Lysh shot her a glare, causing the younger to apologize.

"Am I?" Chantel linked her arms with Kyla and Kirst as they walked towards the enterence of the store. Their legs moved in unison and they started to march in a line together, pulling each other back and forth.

"Stop." Lysh shushed before Chantel could go any further to press on, leaving the other to smile devilishly at her.  Chantel made another comment about Lysh's hands that made the elder split from the group, off to search alone. 

Everyone wandered the store for their own desired snacks and weren't at all concerned about Lysh's wallet. 

Abby and Hayley were messing around with one of the big bouncy balls that were held together in a wired cylinder shaped container and when Abby tossed it Hayley's way, the ball bounced up instead and there was loud smack noise from the single hit to the tiled floor before the sound of broken glass echoed the store.

The girls froze and Hayley's hands slowly covered over her mouth while Abby cupped her forehead in surprise. Hannah heard the shattering of the vase in the aisle the three were in and eyed the guilty parties.

"What did you guys do?" She asked quickly and turned around to the mess on the floor with a stern line across her lips. Abby instantly ran over to Hayley and they began to bicker.

"You were supposed to catch it!"

"You threw it too high!"

"Oh my god.." Hannah mumbled and walked over to the smashed figure, using her shoe to move around the pieces, the sound of scraping glass across the floor only audible to her. She scooped some into her hand and carefully held them while kicking the rest under the rack.

It seemed no one noticed, despite the huge sound the incident produced and she looked around for any witnesses. She picked up the remaining little pieces and hid them on the shelf between three tall candles and put some inside another vase that was next to the candles.

Abby and Hayley watched quietly and pursed their lips to Hannah's alert motions, Abby's gesture thrown to Hayley's side in a rushed movement in form of a punch.

"Walk away." Hannah said and held her hands behind her back as she strutted to the other side of the store. Abby and Hayley did as Hannah demanded and they looked above to the ceiling as if nothing had happened at all.

Abby softly kicked the ball away and re-treated back to a different aisle, further away from where they kept the catastrophy hidden. Hayley quickly glanced at her and they shared a fit of giggling, relieved they got off.

Exploring away from Abby and Hayley's calamity, the trio of Chantel, Kirst and Kyla disconnected their arms and ran down the aisles as if they hadn't ever seen the rows of food before.

Chantel made way to the alcohol section and jokingly picked up a container of beer, bringing it to the others picking out a flavor of ice cream to put in their cart.

"What about this one, huh? Shots, shots, shots!" Chantel's loud voice attracted nearby shoppers and they all stopped to stare at the short girl. Lysh covered her face as Kyla laughed, holding a container of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream in her arms.

"First of all: you don't take  _shots_ with  _beer_ , second; you're, like, five so you'd never get a chance to even have that." Kyla smirked, tucking the tub under her arm and pointing her finger to another flavor. 

Chantel tossed her head to the side and rolled her eyes, her attention snapping forward when Lysh's arm reached across from her to grab the beer holder.

"Fine, I'll get it. Kyla, have you ever had beer before?" Lysh spoke casually and threw off Kyla's thought, the girl looking at her with wide doe eyes and knitted eyebrows.

"What?" She glared at Lysh's calm atmosphere and had to take a double look at the older girl. Lysh smiled at Kyla's expression and held the beer tighter in her hand before setting it into the trolley.

"That's a  _no_ then, I assume." She continued and went back to search for a specific kind of ice cream that she loved. She placed the last choice into the cart and pushed it down the aisles as they trailed behind her.

Kyla was still in shock, so many questions were racing in her mind and she felt like she didn't have enough words to express them. 

_How the hell is she expecting to pay for it?_

Kyla followed quietly as Chantel tossed in a few more random food items and one bubbles bottle for her and Kirst to mess around with later and then everyone met up with them at the register, adding to the stocked pile of junk in the cart.

Everyone seemed totally fine with the fact that there was just a thing of beer sitting on the item scanner and Kyla was beginning to feel a panicked tang erupt in her stomach.

"How is she supposed to pay for that?" Kyla whispered to Hayley as she pointed to the beer and they walked to the bagging area to reload the cart of their products.

"Oh, she has a fake ID." Hayley dismissed Kyla's wonder and lifted bags in her hands to carry. Kyla stood for a moment, stunned from Hayley's words and attitude.

"Come again?" She blinked rapidly to the other and Hayley grinned, pulling out the bag of chips she picked out and opening it as they walked out to the car.

"And you guys are just _alright_ with this?" She glanced over her shoulder to Lysh paying for the beer and lifting it easily in her hold. Her eyes darted between the drinks and Lysh's mellow features.

"Pretty much." Hayley's monotone behavior creating more fret to swirl in Kyla's mind. 

_They don't realize that this is crazy!?_

Kyla dragged her feet before getting into the car after putting away the bags in the trunk. She sat with her back against the seat and her hands fumbled in her lap.

 _We came here for ice cream and left with beer_...

Her heart rate began to increase and she paid no attention to everyone else's words or conversations. Not even their little teases to one another entered her thoughts and Kyla started to feel trapped in her spot.

She tried to ease her confusion and convinced herself she'd only be in the car for another ten minutes or so, then she could get out and breathe.  

Lysh finally parked in her garage and they each took turns bringing the bags inside. Chantel flexed when she carried the ones with ice cream in them and pretended she was weight-lifting, recieving a judgmental look from Kirst as they set everything in their order.

"Yeah, right, like you're some tough stuff." She rolled her eyes and Chantel poked her tongue out at the purple haired girl, organizing ways to create enough space to fit things in Lysh's pantry.

"I am...compared to you." She smugly replied and watched as Kirst walked away in vex to get more bags. Chantel laughed to herself and went to sit on the couch once everything was brought in. 

"Okay, I'll order the pizza. What does everyone want?" She called from her relaxed station and waited for someone to answer. She pulled out her phone from her pocket and went to their usual pizza app.

"Look, she has an android." Abby pointed at Chantel from behind the couch and Chantel laughed sarcastically. Chantel moved to sit where she could see over the couch and glared at Abby.

"Ah-ha-ha—shut the fuck up and tell me what you want or I’ll order for myself." She said swiftly and Abby broke into a fit of laughter. Abby pinched her nose and held up a hand in front of her face and waved it around.

"Smell like broke in here." She continued and Chantel made a hand gesture that dismissed Abby's words and ignored her as she looked past her to the others.

"Just get pepperoni." Lysh called out to them and took out plates from her cabinet, placing them out on the counter and walking away into a hallway to her room.

"And pineapple." Kirst pouted, Chantel's reaction making the younger cover her mouth with her right hand as giggles escaped her. Chantel raised her eyebrow and sat up more to where her left arm was pinning her upward 

"You're kidding..?" She eyed the other girl and Kirst shook her head, strolling to where Chantel was stretched out and sat at the end of the couch. She put Chantel's legs over her lap and squinted at her.

"No, get it. It's good." She pressed and Chantel sighed before adding the topping to their order, making sure to get two seperate pizzas incase no one agreed with Kirst's odd taste.

"You can have a whole pizza to yourself, I guess." She muttered and saved their order, applying a timer on her phone to leave them to wait for thirty minutes. She reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the remote, flipping channels in search of something good to watch.

"Movie?" She asked and Hannah sat besides Kyla as they shared a bag of takis. Chantel looked through the movies that were playing currently and wrinkled her nose at the selection.

"Something scary." Abby said and Hayley piped in her choice, Chantel going to Netflix to find a better row to choose from. She clicked past the lame ones and stopped on a title she had already seen before but was fine rewatching.

" _Hush_?" She asked and everyone nodded, two of the four having not watched it and Chantel explained the plot without spoiling it. No surprise when Kirst said she'd never thought about watching it.

"Well, yeah, that's because you only watch kids movies and anime." She clicked on the movie and everyone sat back to look at the tv better. Kirst smacked Chantel's left leg on her lap and Chantel poked her stomach with her foot lightly.

"Not even." She said in annoyance and Hannah laughed at the two. She wiped her hands on the napkin in her grip and pointed to Kirst from the other couch.

"Weeaboo." She declared and Chantel laughed along with her, Kirst holding her hand to her forehead and shaking away the insults.

"I am not—you know what? Not even worth it." Her defending argument growing weak and leaving the girls to continue mocking her. Kirst sighed and looked forward at the tv as the movie started.

Lysh walked around the living room after changing into something more comfortable and sat down next to Abby and Hayley. Her stomach growled and she bounced back up to her feet to rummage through the snacks they bought.

"How long's the pizza gonna take?" She looked through the rows of chips and candy before grabbing a _Doritos_ bag and opening it on her walk back to the couch.

"Like, 15 minutes. I ordered a while ago." Chantel answered and unlocked her phone, scrolling through random stuff to entertain herself. Lysh groaned from her spot and Abby shoved her shoulder.

"I'm trying to hear the movie." Lysh brushed off Abby's comment and ate her chips loudly on purpose, Abby slowly closing her eyes to keep herself from raging out to the older girl.

"Lysh, stop being annoying." Hannah stated and Lysh sent her an ugly facial expression; that of which made Hannah fake gag and Kyla scooted away from her.

"Ew, don't be gross." Kyla said, tossing a taki in her direction and they all just went on making unnecessary comments while Kirst tried to concetrate on the movie. She reminded herself to never watch another film in the accompany of her talkative friends again.

"Mature." Hannah scoffed and picked up the taki with her napkin and bundled it up, setting it on the coffee table and looking back up to the tv.

The door bell rang and Lysh stood from her seating, tossing the empty chip bag into the trash on her way to the front door. She smiled at the delivery girl and went back to get her wallet from the kitchen counter.

The girl stood in the doorway and her eyes brightened when she took a full view of Lysh's shirt.

"I love your shirt!" She exclaimed and Lysh cocked her head as she looked down at her own chest. Her mouth widened and her dimple poked out through her cheek, flashing to the delivery girl's direction.

"Thanks! I rarely every get compliments on it." She muttered as she gestured her hand to the group in her living room. The girl laughed and handed the recipte for Lysh to sign.

" _Harry Potter_ is my favorite, I don't get why everyone hates it." The girl rolled her eyes and Lysh nodded her head in agreement, going to say something more before someone from behind them interupted.

"Because it's fucking boring!" Chantel announced loudly and Kirst swatted her leg, disapproving of the inpoliteless her friend applied.

Both the girl and Lysh laughed and as Lysh was pocketing her wallet, the girl slipped a piece of paper into their pizza and turned to leave. "Have a goodnight!" She wished to her and Lysh shot her one more smile before shutting the door, taking the two boxes to the dinner table and setting them there for the group to pick through.

"Pizza's here." Lysh picked out the best slices from the box with the pepperoni toppings and retreated back into the living room. Chantel bolted from the couch and lifted the cover Lysh shut.

"What the...?" She furrowed her eyebrows and held up a little scrap of paper she took found tucked under her chosen slice.

"Yo, Lysh, I think your weird _Harry Potter_ friend left her number in here." A smirk followed by a guffawed din arose from Chantel and she went to hand the slip to Lysh.

"She'a not my friend, I don't even know her." Lysh bit from her pizza and wiped her mouth of any grease or sauce. She studied the paper Chantel handed out to her and took it with her index and pointer finger.

"Guess you can get to know her now. Ava of Pizza Hut." Chantel winked as she read out the name and number on the paper and Lysh shrugged away the other.

"Shut up." 

Each got their own plate and they all watched the movie with snarky comments on everything that was displayed. The thriller was like any other of the genre and they weren't surprised when the protaganist collapsed as she was running away from the killer. Cliché.

Lysh kept looking down at the paper besides her arm and couldn't stop smiling at the thought of getting to geek about their mutual favorite series to the girl.

After the movie ended and with fully filled bellies, the group relaxed and watched a random cartoon that was on. Chantel got up from her position and walked towards the freezer, taking out a bowl and a spoon to use to scoup herself ice cream.

"Who's up for ice cream? Mint Chocolate chip?" She asked to the open air and Hannah got up to help her with the servings. Everyone spoke in overlapping voices and Chantel shook her head at their response.

"I want cotton candy instead." Abby decided and a wretched noise carried through the kitchen.

"You're disgusting, Abby. Aboslutely disgusting." Chantel mocked and Abby got up from her couch towards the kitchen.

"It's awesome, not even as sweet as you say it is." She took out her tub and bumped into Chantel on purpose while reaching for a spoon. Chantel scowled to the taller girl and Hannah raised her eyebrow at the action.

"Only children like the candy flavors." She spoke and Chantel smiled in a manner as if they were teaming up against Abby. Abby waved away their words and scouped herself some of the pink and purple colored cream.

Hannah and Chantel passed out each bowl and on the way back to the couch, Chantel grabbed the bubbles she put on the counter and blew them as they ate dessert. 

Kyla kept popping the translucent orbs and Chantel complained about it so she blew a dozen more to see if Kyla could get them all and it was starting to irritate Kirst. 

"Will you stop? They keep getting into my bowl." She shielded her ice cream away from Chantel's nuisance. Chantel stared at Kirst for a second before picking up the bubble blower and huffing air into it that sent bubbles flying to the other's direction.

Kirst fanned in front of her face and set down her melted ice cream before snatching the bottle from Chantel's hands. "You act like you're twelve years old!" She exclaimed and Chantel snickered into her hand as Kyla finished off her bowl.

"And you act like you're somebody's grandma." Kyla added and Chantel clapped her hands together to annoy Kirst more. 

"Why is everyone picking on me today?" She raised her voice and their menace habits grew bigger when they noticed her frustration. 

"Because you're the youngest." Lysh turned her attention to their teases and listened along. Everyone threw in their own jokes and Kirst felt like she was getting poked at by a stick every which way.

"Poor kid was just born a couple days ago. Give her a break." Hannah wiped a lone stray tear and Kirst hid her face in her hands with a sigh.

Hayley walked into the kitchen and brought out the beer from earlier and the action sparked Kyla's attention.

She forgot about it this entire time and now seeing it sat on the coffee table made her feel a familiar sensation that in her stomach. She scratched the back of her neck and looked down at her phone in her lap.

"Should we really be doing that?" She questioned while Abby opened her bottle and sipped from it, her eyes closing in disgust as she swallowed the liquid.

"No, but it's fun. The taste is awful and because it's so bad that's what makes it good." She replied and Kyla tucked her hair behind her ear. 

"What?"

"They drink it to get drunk. They're dumb like that." Chantel spiked and Kyla nodded at her translation of Abby's words. Hayley shrugged and drank from hers, shaking her head as if she had actually taken a shot.

"You're just bitter because you can't have any." Lysh commented and Chantel made no move to indicate she had heard the other. Kyla glanced to Hannah as she pulled her own from the packet.

"We won't let Kirst and Chantel have some because they're sophomores." Hannah rolled her tongue as she pointed it to Chantel's attitude and the younger glared at her with heavy eyes.

"Okay, sorry I'm not your roommate in your retirement home." Chantel shrugged and Hannah scoffed as she took multiple sips from the bottle in her hand.

Hayley urged Kyla to get one as well but the dark haired girl kept declining the offer, feeling like an uptight coward as she watched the others drink the liquid casually.

"This is so weird." She muttered and picked at the skin surrounding her fingernail. She'd never guess they would do something like this; they all seemed like terrified nerds to even attempt this.

"Oh, whatever. Fine." She said outloud and leaned forward to grab a bottle, feeling the cold solid glass and condensation drip onto her hand. She picked at the cap until it popped off and hesitated before bringing it to touch her lips. She let the satisfying sensation cross her slight trembling lip and then she finally tipped the bottle. 

The yellow liquid hit her tongue and she felt the instant rush of adrenaline spring in her chest and she sat up. She held the bottle tightly and scrunched her nose as she tasted the essence the drink left behind.

"You're right, it  _is_ terrible..but, I feel invincible all of a sudden." 

Abby laughed loudly, her eyes starting to already seemingly display a fuzzy view that resulted a funny daze upon her face. Hannah slapped Abby's arm from her spot next to her and the two started laughing harder, falling into each other's laps.

"God, already? Really?" Chantel groaned from on the floor, Kirst sat on her left as she braided strands of the girl's dark brown hair.

The five drank more of the beers and soon, Kyla grew out of the discomfort and started to act out. Hannah, Abby and she were going around the room in a conga line as music played through the house and Lysh kept rambling to Hayley about things that didn't seem important.

"And I said " _Rickelle, you can't come with me to the choir concert! It's all the way in Vegas!"_  and she just broke down sobbing!" Lysh expressed her words loudly, Hayley nodding along but not exactly paying attention to anything she said.

"She just wanted to see Tyler, I bet." Lysh rolled her eyes, setting down her second empty beer bottle onto the coffee table and turning back to Hayley. "Why do kids like crushing on older guys?" Hayley shrugged and got up from the couch they were on, going to the other and stretching out there.

" _Tyler?_ What about Tyler?" Kyla called over Hannah's shoulders as the three circled the line back around Lysh's couch. Lysh looked up to the voice and reached over to turn down the music.

"Oh, nothing! I was just telling Hayley about what happened with Rickelle. I'm pretty sure it's because she's got, like, this thing for him or whatever." 

Kyla yawned and broke off from her part in the line, going back to sit and tucking one foot under her butt. Hannah and Abby fell to the floor next to the two who were blowing bubbles and calmed their breathing.

"I don't blame her, he's cute!" Kyla giggled and Lysh squinted her eyes in the drunk girl's direction. Chantel gasped and looked up at Kyla, pointing the stick from the bubbles at her.

"You like Tyler?!" She targeted her and Kyla broke into another jumbled fit of giggles. Kirst covered her mouth in a gasp and Abby started hooting.

"Kyla's got a _crush_!" She sang and Hannah lied on the wooden floor, an arm flinging over her stomach to control her laughter.

"He's _not_ my crush! I just think he's cute, that's all." She shushed their commotion and her pointer finger stopped in front of her lips.

"Don't say anything!" She spoke in a slight slur and her words came off less demanding than intended. Hannah drew on a fake zipper to her lips and flicked her fingers to Kyla.

Kirst crossed her heart and Chantel ignored the kick Kyla gave her shoulder. Chantel swung her hands in the air and crossed her arms over her chest when she recieved another one.

"Okay, I won't, I won't!" 

"Good. I'm tired." Kyla yawned again and stretched her arms above her head. Lysh got up and sauntered to get blankets for their sleepover. Hayley was already knocked out and took up the entirety of one couch so the rest had to sleep on the floor.

Abby and Chantel went through a game of rock, paper, scissors for the other couch and Chantel threw up her arms in defeat. Abby smirked as she got comfortable on her victory prize and took the blanket Lysh handed her. 

Lysh placed a blanket over the snoozing girl and dropped the rest of the pile on the others, leaving them to get settled and threw off the pillows no one was using from the couches.

"Goodnight, guys." She said as she shut off the lights and walked off to her room, the girls talking in whispers and occasionally giggling at one another.

"Wait, I gotta pee." Hannah smiled in the dark and Kyla rolled to her side, draping the blanket over her head.

"You're so gross." She groaned, her eyes droopy and her thoughts starting to lose any power of making sense.

"At least I wash my hands when I go." She defended and Kyla chuckled. Hannah haulted her movements from getting up and eyed the darkness.

"What if there are monsters or ghosts out there? Oh my god, and I get possessed?!" She exaggerated her words and Chantel murmured in annoyance.

"Just go pee, idiot.” 


	3. Bwc...Oh, and Tyler.

"Man, it's so fucking hot out here. Why did we decide to eat lunch outside?" Chantel complained, picking off Tyler's sunglasses that he wore from his nose and placed them on her face.

She took off her glasses and set them besides her, booping Tyler's nose as he eyed her. Tyler scowled but let the other continue anyway, turning away from her and looking past the crowded area of students. 

They were sat in a circle under a tall tree that blocked most of their eyes from the sun but the shine still poked through the branches and leaves, giving the loud mouth member a headache.

"You're the one that wanted to come out here!" Hannah pointed to Chantel and watched as the girl shrugged off her words with a wave of her left hand.

Chantel pulled the glasses a little down her nose and sprawled out across the grass, her chest touching the greenery and her fingers went to pick at the plant.

"Well, I didn't exactly know it'd be  _this_ hot, did I?" She said, bringing a piece of the grass she pulled out beneath her arm to her nose and sniffing it. Kyla rolled her eyes, tossing her water bottle between her hands as she spoke.

"If this is bad to you, you'd  _die_ in California's weather. This ain't even that crazy." She corrected Chantel and the smaller pursed her lips as she retreated back into a sitting position before laying her head onto Tyler's lap. 

“What do you mean this isn’t bad? Texas is, like, ten times hotter than your precious Palm Trees.” Chantel glared at the other and Tyler laughed under his breath, ignoring her words and looking back at Kyla. 

"You miss living there?" Tyler asked her as he twiddled with Chantel's brown locks that spread over his lap. Kyla debated the question and tried to remember back to her old life, a few certain memories popping around her thoughts.

It's been two and a half months since she moved from her old house and into her new and she wasn't dwelling much on her past living now that she made herself comfortable in her current.

She actually prefered her new life more than her old; everything since the move has been nothing less than great and compared to her former, this was to what the paradise she imagined. 

"Yeah, sometimes. I miss my friends more than the weather, though." She joked, bringing the water bottle's opening to her mouth and  sipping from it. Tyler smiled to her fondly, tugging softly at Chantel's hair and the girl glanced up at him.

"Ow, stop that." She pinched Tyler's neck and held the sunglases up above her face. "Doubt your old friends were as cool as me." She directed to Kyla while staring through the raised glasses. 

Kyla huffed and held open her hands as Abby shuffled a few takis into them, her makeshift bowl holding the chips carefully.  She plucked at the food as she went along with Chantel's prideful act.

"Oh, yeah, they were complete losers. Nothing at all like you; you're one-of-a-kind!" 

Chantel stuck out her tongue to the tone of Kyla's voice and sat up from off of Tyler's lap, tossing a few pieces of grass towards the girl and rolling her eyes.

"Smartass," She said grimly and nudged Tyler's shoulder, "get a load of this.." she muttered to him and Tyler laughed softly. 

"What makes Cali so different from here?" Hannah continued the conversation, now more interested in the topic of Kyla's old living.

"Well, for one: Disneyland. Like, that was the best. My dad had free passes to get us in because he used to work there." Kyla snickered at the thought of how often she used to go to the amusement park, her heart dropping a little to her stomach because she missed it so much.

"Worked there? Like, as one of the characters or something?" Chantel teased, messing more with the grass they were upon and sprinkling the bits back onto the natured floor.

"No, not as a character." Kyla shook her head, glaring at Chantel's mockery and finishing off the last taki she had left in her palm. "He was a wardrobe stylist. You know, like, makeup and costumes and stuff." She explained, looking around at everyone in the circle for their understanding.

Hayley's pointer finger was on her chin and she had her mouth in the shape of a circle, her lips slightly parted as everyone oohed to Kyla's elaberation.

"Oh, that's pretty cool." Lysh said, crumbling the wrapper from her food and putting it into the plastic bag that sat in the middle of the group. Kyla nodded and laughed to herself when remembering a funny story her father told her.

"This one time when my dad was helping out this guy get into his Mickey costume, these little kids somehow found a way into the changing room area and started crying when they saw the big Mickey head on the floor because they thought Mickey got decapitated," she stopped to let everyone process what she said and they laughed loudly in unison, "and my dad had to explain to them that Mickey was fine and that he was just resting his head from having his huge ears on all the time."

Kirst furrowed her eyebrows and set her sandwich in her lap while quickly chewing the bite she had taken from it.

"And they believed it?!" 

"Yeah! He even gave them Mickey ears to calm them down." 

Kirst covered her mouth as she giggled and held her sandwich tightly. "Those poor kids will probably remember that forever when they put on those ears." She pouted, dusting her pants off of crumbs that fell from the bread in her hand.

She ate her last bite of her lunch and stood up quickly to continue a better dusting of the breadcrumbs, the bits falling to the ground and becoming hidden in the dirt.

"Kids are so dumb, dude." Chantel rolled her shoulders, scornfully laughing at the young, clueless individuals that she and her friends once were.

"Especially my little brother Daniel, he makes our dad read outloud to him before bed." Kyla looked down at her long legs streched out in front of her. Her socks were light against the dark green of the grass and her prominent skin tone sparkled due to the sunlight.

Tyler eyed Kyla as he listened to her continue talking about her family, his eyes trailing and tracing over her bangs and side profile from where her body was angled across his own sat form.

He glimpsed down at the grass when she noticed his stare and tilted his head to where his features were a bit harder to make out, his dark brown hair looking in color of a lighter shade than his natural curls and his eyelashes as long as the grass that grew around them.

They heard the bell ring over the speakers the school had installed outside and Abby groaned at the thought of having to get up to part away from her comfortable setting.

The group sat a little longer as they collected their things but Lysh's loud voice stalled their actions and they all turned to look at her.

"We should have a group name." She said, her lone folder gripped in her hand as she stood off the ground. Hannah raised an eyebrow at her and Chantel spoke up in the followed silence of Lysh's random words.

"A group name?" She repeated, her eyes darting back and forth to the others and then toward Lysh's expression. Curious eyes watched while Lysh shrugged and held the folder close to her chest with two hands.

"Yeah, why not? Easier than saying all of your names when I talk about us." 

"Okay, but what would even be a good name?" Hayley questioned, names and inside jokes worthy to use as a title swirling around in her mind.

"I don't know, that's the fun part---creating the name!" She exclaimed and everyone stood still for a moment before Hannah broke off into a walk.

They trailed together, not exactly concerned about being late to their next classes.

"Any ideas?" Abby asked, the concentrating silence being her clear answer and Kyla sighed. 

"Awesome bitches?" Hannah suggested, everyone turning away and dismissing the terrible nickname.

"Bitches that rock?" Chantel's jester personality toyed with Lysh's unusual proposal.

"Why are you guys stuck on that word?" Kirst spoke, her words seemingly sounding small compared to the other's evenly timbre.

Chantel locked her right arm around Kirst's neck, her tip toes carrying herself as they walked in the same careless pace.

"Can't curse around the little one, guys." Chantel awed as she kept her arms wrapped around the taller's shoulders, pulling her head closer to the other's. Kirst tried to push away her friend and the two tugged at each other before Chantel let go and Kirst flew to the ground.

"Chantie!" Kirst called from her spot by their legs, her tumble causing the entire group to stop and stare below to her.

Chantel looked down at her with her hands in the air defensively as a smirk smothered her face.

"What?" She said smug like and the surrounding bodies laughed to the display from the duo, Kirst's cheeks tinting a blossom pink color and Tyler offered his hand to help her up.

Kirst slapped her hands to her jeans and hoodie, brushing away the dirt off her clothing that appeared in result of her fall. She walked to the other side of Tyler and he stood between she and Chantel like a brick wall, stopping any further mischievous acts Chantel targeted to Kirst.

"Can we just skip? I really don't want to go to class." Abby said, dragging her feet behind her as they neared the back entrance to the school.

They stopped one more time and turned to Abby, thinking over her tip and whether or not they were willing to get an absent in their last remaining classes.

"Where would we go?" Hayley asked, looking down at her worn, black fading converse shoes and kicking a pebble under her foot.

"Bowling." Chantel scoffed, expecting their reactions to form into a small laughter but Kyla's eyes perked up and a wide smile arose over her lips.

"Okay, I'm down." She replied, Chantel furrowing her eyebrows and sending the other a confused expression. 

"I was joking." Her state was monotone as she adjusted her backpack on her shoulders, shuffling around to keep her balance steady. Kyla gripped her own backpack with both hands and gave the group another beaming smile.

"No, I wanna go! C'mon, it'll be funner than this boring place." She gestured her hand to their school and the final bell rang, indicating they were late.

"I don't know, Kyla, maybe you  _should_ stay at this 'boring place' because  _funner_ isn't a word." Lysh looked at the enthusiastic girl, a small smile across her mouth. 

Kyla's smile dropped and her eyebrows knitted together as she stared darkly at Lysh, sighing and shaking her head at her ridicule. She turned around and looked out to the parking lot of the school, her eyes going over all the different colors of the cars.

"Shut up, Lysh." She muttered, Lysh laughing in response and Hannah stepped forward to give another recommendation. It was clear they all silently mutually agreed they weren't going to class.

"We can go to the arcade? Didn't they have one at that bowling alley we went to for Josh's birthday?" She tapped her chin as she thought over the last time the group went out to do something as actually active as that.

"Who's Josh?"

"Yeah, we can go there." Chantel interrupted  Kyla's wonder and Lysh led the way to her parked car, everyone tossing their bags into the back and squeezing in together.

Tyler slipped into the passenger's seat as Lysh buckled into the driver's and started the engine. Kyla listened along to her friends' random talks and thought over their plan of skipping school.

"Who is Josh?" Kyla repeated after the chatter of the others settled and Tyler pulled down the small mirror above his face that was connected to the ceiling of Lysh's car.

His eye contact went to Kyla's in the back from her spot in the middle and he smiled to her.

"He's my best friend." He answered and examined his face a little longer in the mirror before shutting it and looking out the car window, his finger brushing across his tanned cheeks.

"Yeah, they've known each other for, like, years. Remind me Tyler, how long?" Chantel asked dramatically and gazed to the back of Tyler's head, putting up a finger gun of her left hand to her head when he went off into the full story of how he and Josh met.

Kyla listened carefully to his passionate explanation and kept mental notes of details she thought she should remember if she was to ever meet this best friend of Tyler's.

Chantel leaned in close to Kyla and whispered just loud enough for the two to hear. “He also likes sausage.” She smirked, Kyla’s expression turning into a confused manner.

”What?” She questioned and Chantel started snickering, pulling her hand close to her mouth.

“Gay. Josh’s gay.” Chantel said, Kyla’s entire body language changing and causing Chantel to laugh more.

“Oh.” Kyla simply put and watched Chantel move back to her own space, going along with Abby’s teasing to Tyler. 

"You make it sound like you two are in love or something." Abby mocked after Tyler finished talking, looking down at her hands and her thumb smoothly stroked over her long nails.

"I do not! We're just best friends." Tyler exclaimed from the front, adjusting his body to where he can peer into the backseat behind him as his voice overlapped the other's hushed conversations.

Abby raised an eyebrow to him and looked back to Chantel, whom had a imaginary zipper across her lips.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say, right?" Chantel remarked, grinning to Kyla as Tyler huffed at their taunting.

Kyla laughed and looked at Tyler, the two sharing a glare that sent the girl into more giggles.

"Tyler gay?" Kirst questioned and Chantel broke into hysterics, straightening up her body and her pointed finger went past Hayley to the other.

"Tyler gay." She confirmed and Tyler rolled his eyes as he settled correctly into his seat, facing the road out the window. His eyes stared to the yellow lines that flew by as Lysh drove.

"Whatever." He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest while Lysh turned the car into the parking lot of the bowling alley.

The girls snickered more behind Tyler when he got out of the car and his middle finger slipped over his face, shining to Chantel then to Abby before he turned away.

"You better watch that finger!" Chantel hollered as she watched him enter the establishment, walking back towards Kirst as they followed behind the group.

Kyla looked around at the unfamiliarity, booming music reaching her ears and making her shake her head.

"So loud.." She whispered under her breath, trailing behind Abby with her hands in her sweater’s pockets.

Lysh walked to the front to get everything settled and the others ran off to the arcade, having the money Lysh gave out to them to turn into tokens. 

Chantel pulled Kirst aside to the air hockey area and everyone gathered around to watch them play. Kirst shook her head immediately and walked backwards away from the table.

"No way, you're crazy when you play this." Kirst's voiced carried over the music and Chantel tilted her head to the other, the game piece moving around between her hands.

"I am not! Get over here and play with me." She bugged at Kirst and the girl continued to hold her ground, her feet glued to her spot away from the game.

"I'll play." Kyla skipped to stand across Chantel, taking the striker in her right hand and leaning over the table.

Chantel reached for the puck and started the game, mellow music playing from the machine as they went back and forth.

Chantel hunched a little bit to get a better hold of her piece, hitting the puck hard enough to send it flying to Kyla's end and into the other girl's goal. 

Kyla gasped at how fast the action was and narrowed her eyebrows to Chantel, placing the puck back over the table.

"One to zero." Chantel said, a smile crossing her face as she heard the striker smack against the puck. Kyla glared at her and let her hand be in control, her eyes looking around the air table as she planned a swift way to win.

Tyler and Abby walked off to another game and climbed inside, two seats positioned in front of plastic guns placed in front of them. Tyler entered the tokens and the game started, the two quickly took hold of the guns and watched the introduction on the screen.

The goal was to kill as many zombies as possible in order to escape an abandoned hospital and save the survivors, their characters being on a team and having armed with secret weapons.

Abby cussed under her breath when Tyler accidentally shot a survivor and forcefully shoved her right shoulder into his left.

"What the hell are you doing?" She kept her eyes focused to the screen in front of them and continued to shoot at more zombies.

Tyler let his grip from the toy gun fall and he sat back into his seat, his hands aligned over his stomach. He watched Abby play as his character collapsed while his side of the screen flashed with a big  **FATAL** in red colored bold font. 

"I died!" His arms shot up into the air and he got out of his side to collect the few tickets he won in the game. He counted them and pocketed the very little before walking over to Abby's side, taking out her gifted ones from her winning play.

"You suck." She punched his arm and took her tickets from Tyler's hand, snatching them away as he was counting.

He rolled his eyes and strutted over to the basketball game near by, Abby following along and stopping to look at the three girls that walked over to them.

Kyla stepped next to Tyler, taking her spot at the right side to compete with him. Kirst kept giggling at Chantel's behavior, her face held a stern view with her arms crossed over her chest after losing the very tense game of air hockey to Kyla. 

"She's a sore loser." Kyla called over her shoulder, tossing in the small basketballs that sat around at the bottom of the table.

Tyler bit his bottom lip as he concentrated on the game, the basketballs in his grip professionally and making Kyla look like an amateur. 

She kept glancing over to him, impressed by his practiced skills. Tyler counted the amount of balls that fell down the small ringed hoop in front of him, his eyebrows together in a fine line.

”Not even, you cheated." Chantel replied to Kyla’s diss and rolled her eyes, pulling Abby and Kirst along with her in search of the others in the bowling area.

Their game ended and Kyla lost in no surprise; she wasn’t as competitive in sports as Tyler was.  

She turned to him with her right hand on her hip, an exaggerated shocked expression on her face.

”You’re good.” She complimented him, reaching for her rewarded tickets and strutting off in the direction the trio had gone. 

“Yeah, it’s almost like I play basketball.” Tyler remarked, following behind her as he looked down at his tickets. 

“You think you’re better than everyone?” Kyla teased, raising an eyebrow to Tyler and stopping as he caught up to her.

”And what about it?” He smirked, his hands coming to stop on his hips while Kyla scoffed to his attitude. She glared at him, twisting her foot to where her leg was stretched out in front of her.

”Nothin’.” She said, sharing a sly smile to the boy and turning on her heel, off to join the group.

 Tyler stared at Kyla’s back as she walked away, chuckling to himself and gripping the tickets tighter in his palm. 

When Kyla walked over to the group's lane, she was surprised at how long and wide each course was. Hayley and Abby were tying on their shoes, Hannah and Lysh setting down snacks and handing out drinks while Chantel was helping Kirst take something out of her hair.

"Lice." Abby hissed at Kirst and the girl glared in response, her arms crossing over her chest. "I'll have you know I take great care of my hair." She remarked, reaching across the table to her drink and sipping quietly through the straw.

Tyler walked passed where Kyla was standing and poked her right shoulder, his hand extended before quickly going back to his jean pockets as if to pretend he didn't do it.

Kyla glanced behind her with a confused look, her eyes soon finding the nuisance and tilting her head in Tyler's direction. His finger came to his chin and he shrugged, sitting down in a spot besides Chantel.

"Alright, I didn't pay 40 bucks just for you guys to sit around---get the hell up and play." Lysh said, opening a bag of chips she had bought herself and sitting back in her chair.

Hayley got up and bowled first, deciding on a green ball and stepping closer to the lane. All eyes paid attention to her stance and she held the ball tightly, letting it slip from her fingers and watched as it forcefully slid in front of her.

The ball took down nearly all of the pins and her friends oohed from behind her, the girl strolling back to them and confidently sitting down.

"Who's next?" She asked matter-of-factly, kicking her shoes up to the table. Chantel raised an eyebrow at her and shoved her feet off the table, the two laughing.

Abby stood and picked out a ball, the lighting of the alley reflecting purple off of the sphere. Her hold was tight as she carried the heavy ball to the lane.

She swung it a few times before finally releasing it and everyone watched carefully as it rolled.

Abby turned around embarrassingly and sulked when walking back to her seat. Everyone was silent for a moment, Chantel’s obnoxiously loud laugh breaking the quiet and causing the rest to erupt into hoots.

”A gutter ball!” Chantel pointed to Abby’s name across the screen that displayed their scores, the one zero in the girl’s section shining on full view.

”I wanna see you do better!” Abby challenged Chantel, the shorter girl rising from her spot and shoving her drink into Tyler’s hand.

She marched to the lane after picking up Abby’s old ball and turned to look at the group behind her.

”Watch and learn, suckers.” She expressed pridefully and went into a starting run. The audience’s eyes went wide when they realized she wasn’t wearing the bowling shoes assigned to her and their mouths hung open.

”Hey, wait! You’re not wearing the shoes-“ Kirst was interrupted as everyone went quiet again; just enough to where you could hear a pin drop.

Tyler stood, Chantel’s drink still in his hands and being held strongly when he laughed aggressively at  Chantel, trying not to drop the cup.

There she lay, flat on her back to where she can see the details of the ceiling that face up in front of her, the black jeans and vans she wore glistening against the neon lighting in the alley.

”Yo, this bitch slid!” Abby shouted loudly, Kyla falling to her knees in laughter and Kirst covering her mouth in second-hand embarrassment.

Chantel’s form was in the middle of the lane, her foot kicking up then falling back down to the glossed wooden panels of the floor.

She lifted her head slowly and looked across from her body at the bowling ball that rolled gracefully. 

The ball traveled a little more before it went into the gutter and down past the standing white pins. 

She stayed in the position, seconds passing as she listened to the roaring noises coming behind her. She settled back onto her feet, her head low as she stared at her shoes.

She walked painfully to the group and sat besides Kirst, her arms coming to her face as she yelled jokingly. 

Kyla was still rolling on the carpeted floor, her words being unable to recognize as she tried talking.

”She...” Was all they could make out and they continued laughing, Kirst’s hand patting Chantel’s back sympathetically. 

“C-can someone else go now?” Chantel spoke up from her bundled arms, her look desperate and sheepish.

Tyler went to grab a ball that fit his finger sized and he bowled, the session moving forward and leaving Chantel to be away in the corner of the table. 

* * *

 After the comical show of each person failing miserably to score points higher than one hundred in bowling, which Hayley so self-righteously was crowned ace at; the group were now at a park near Chantel’s house. 

 Kirst and Abby had their legs connected as Hannah pushed the two back and forth on the swings they were sat in, laughing gleefully when the girls shouted at her for sitting on their wobbly legs.

The other three were together on the bench that watched over the childish equipment, talking quietly amongst themselves. 

There was an ice cream truck close by and Hayley was thrown to the dogs to go order their picks. They had enough of Hayley’s cocky behavior and decided she’d be designated pay. 

“It’s like they’re five, again.” Lysh spoke, their eyes watching the girls shoot off the swings and sprint to the other activities the park had. 

“I don’t even remember what it was like to be five.” Kyla sputtered, pulling the sleeves of her sweater over her hands as a slight breeze brushed past them.

“I only remember certain things, like birthdays and holidays.” Tyler said from beside Kyla. Chantel shrugged to their words, letting the back of her neck touch the bench’s cold metal.

”I grew up too fast. Half the shit that was going on around me when I was a kid wouldn’t ever happen now.” Her voice was low and she closed her eyes as she breathed in slowly.

They were all tired but didn’t feel like going home yet, enjoying each other’s company and not wanting to part from it.

The bowling had worn them out.

”I remember some stuff, but I always get them confused with dreams.” Lysh stated, clearing her throat when it tickled from the cold air. 

Chantel snapped her fingers in Lysh’s direction, her eyes opening in a drowse. 

“Me too, I can’t ever tell them apart. It’s so frustrating, you know? Because, like, I can’t just  _ask_  someone if they're memories or not." 

"Right? If I'm not sure, how is anyone else supposed to know?" 

Tyler raised an eyebrow as he listened to their discussion, thinking of the times and days he went through when he was younger, realizing how different everything felt when he was innocent and youthful.

The nostalgia came over him like a wave, his chest feeling a bit heavy and a small smile forming on his lips when he remembered a specific memory.

"I remember one Christmas I was so confused because my mom had gifted me this keyboard and I didn't know what to do with it." He said, starting off into another story.

"I think I was ten so, you know, being that age I wasn't very excited when I unwrapped that present." He chuckled, Kyla rolling her eyes at his laugh.

"Expecting a phone or something?” She teased him and he nudged her shoulder as he nodded.

”Yeah, and because I didn’t care to learn how to play it; it just sat in my closet. For the longest time it was just _there,_ waiting for me to do _something_ with it _._ ” 

“I regret shoving it behind closed doors, because, one day I got bored and decided to mess with it and I had so much fun creating random noises with it.”

”And I told my mom, this was, like, three years ago, how thankful I was for it and now I use it almost everyday.” He finished, a sentimental energy lingering in the atmosphere in result of the wholesome tale.

Chantel held her chin with her thumb and pointer finger, thinking back to if she had ever received a gift she didn’t like.

"You're spoiled." She scoffed, her right leg bouncing up and down in boredom, waiting for her ice cream. Tyler glared at her and the friends shared a look of false hatred for one another.

 Hayley walked over to them, her hands full of ice cream that left her feeling frozen. She handed each their order, placing her banana split down on the arm of the bench and quickly wiping her hands down on her jeans.

”I think I’ve got frostbite.” She complained, feeling her back pocket for her wallet and making sure she had put it away safely. Lysh ignored her as she bit into her ice cream cone, receiving a side-eye from Chantel. 

"How could you bite into it like that?"

"Is that bad or something?" Lysh raised her eyebrows and Chantel shook her head disappointingly, scooping her red spoon into small bowl of vanilla  _Dip 'n Dots_ and let the balls of ice melt in her mouth.

"Of course you'd bite your ice cream." She muttered, watching Hannah, Abby and Kirst sit on the sidewalk in front of the bench.

There was a moment of comfortable silence as everyone finished off their sugery treat. 

Kirst pulled a face at Chantel from below, Chantel catching on with her hint and the two observed Tyler hand Kyla his remaining some of his ice cream bowl.

"Do you want the rest of mine?" He asked in a hushed tone, noticing she was the only one not eating.

Kyla eyed the snack before taking it with a small smile as thanks, finishing the bowl in three scoops and then handing it back to Tyler to which he got up to throw the empty container into the trash.

"I guess we should get going before the sun completely disappears." Lysh spoke and pointed to the mellow colors in the sky; the mix of yellow and orange vibrant against their faces.

She stood up off the bench and stretched her legs out as she went around to pick up everyone's trash.

She tossed it all away and glanced down at her phone to check the time, waiting for the others to join her when she began walking in the direction of Chantel's house.

They walked in line on the sidewalk, avoiding the cars passing by and staying in a careful path. They were in random order, Kyla and Tyler walking a little further behind due to being caught in conversation. 

 “Okay, so am I taking everyone home?” Lysh asked from the front of the line, turning to Chantel for a reply.

Chantel had her head on Kirst’s left shoulder, her arm draped over the girl’s other shoulder as she walked tiredly. She nodded to Lysh’s question.

”Yeah, I’ve had enough of you people. Kirst is staying over, though.” 

“Actually—“ Kyla spoked up, her head peeking out from behind Hayley, her hand waving in the air.

”I live, like, two neighborhoods over. I can just walk.” She shrugged, her hands moving into her jacket’s pockets.

”I can walk you home.” Tyler stated, ignoring the sarcastic snort that came from Chantel in front of them.

”Oh, no, it’s okay.” Kyla said softly, looking over her shoulder to the boy. He held his hands out and shook them, smiling at her happily.

”Yeah, Tyler, Kyla’s a big girl. I’m sure she knows her way home.” Chantel yawned, lifting her head off Kirst’s shoulder and moving it around to rid of the ache that formed.

”No, I insist.” He bribed and Kyla eventually agreed, the two walking along with the group in another street before parting off from them and turning down a different neighborhood.

”I give them a week.” Chantel whispered to Kirst, smirking as she rubbed her eyes.

”Hm?”

”Until they start dating.”

”You think?” Kirst remarked, looking back behind her to where the boy and girl walked off, blinking a few times as she tilted her head.

”The dumb bitch forgot her backpack, too.” Chantel started snickering, bringing Kirst into her laughter and they giggled quietly to themselves. 

The girls finally arrived to Chantel’s house, waiting for her to open the front door and everyone piled inside. They relaxed for a while, sitting on the couches exhaustedly as they watched whatever was on Chantel’s tv.

Abby got up to get a glass of water, trailing into Chantel’s kitchen and going to sit on the chair tucked under the kitchen bar.

”We forgot to come up with a group name.” She said, drinking from her cup and setting it back down on the coaster set out in front of her. 

“You were serious about that?” Hannah directed to Lysh, the older girl rolling her eyes as she let her head hang back and her neck touch the couch’s softness.

”Yeah, I thought it’d be cool but we don’t have to. We’re not even creative enough to think of one.”

”Beautiful woman group.” Kirst raised her hand in air from her spot on the other couch, her bodyweight put on Chantel’s half-asleep form.

”Bwg for short.” She suggested, lying her head back down on Chantel’s torso. 

“Bwg?” Hannah repeated, chuckling at the sound as she took off her glasses, adjusting them on her nose gently.

”Yeah, because we’re all cute.” Kirst continued explaining, now basically talking to herself as Hayley was already knocked out on the left arm of the couch and the other girls looked to be staring into space.

”That is so lame.” Chantel mumbled, her hand tangling in Kirst’s black hair and fumbling at the blue faded bits of it. 

“What about Tyler?” Lysh broke the sudden silence, the air now filling up with sleepy laughter. 

“I totally forgot about his ugly ass.” Abby laughed into her hand, careful not to knock over her glass. 

“Tyler is such a beautiful woman.” Hannah teased, rubbing her stomach when it growled lowly. She looked at the clock displayed on the tv box below the screen and got up from her spot, rummaging through Chantel’s cabinets.

”There are gummy bears somewhere in the pantry.” Chantel called to Hannah, resting her head back on the couch’s cushioned arm.

”Hey, those are mine..” Kirst furrowed her eyebrows, picking at her fingernail as she listened to Hannah open her bag of the gummy candy.

”Pobrecita, I’ll just get you another bag this weekend.” Chantel muttered, her eyes closed as her headache started to fade away.

”I guess we’re Bwc or whatever the fuck Kirst called it.” Lysh stretched her arms in the air, reaching over to nudge Hayley awake as she slipped on her moccasins.

“It’s _Bwg_! Get it right.” Kirst whined, Chantel’s hand coming to softly smack her face at the girl’s sudden raised voice. 

“Shut up. Bwc sounds better, anyway. C for Chantel.” 

 “Fine. Whatever.” Kirst crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes focusing on the tv screen as bright colors flashed in the commercial.

”Alright, let’s go.” Lysh moved her hands out in front of her, gesturing the sleepy girls to get up. They all got up, ridiculously slowly walking to the door as they said their goodbyes to the two girls left in the house. 

Meanwhile, back on the sidewalks of Kyla’s quiet neighborhood; Tyler made sure there wouldn’t be any awkward silence between he and the girl as they walked together.

”Thanks for walking me home.” Kyla said softly, holding her hands out in front of her as she turned to Tyler whom stood at the steps of her house. 

He shrugged, his hands coming to the front pockets of his jeans, one hand coming up to twirl around a dark brown curl in his hair. 

“Yeah, no problem. Didn’t want you walking alone at a time like this.” He laughed halfheartedly, his lips pursing to talk to the girl more before she left him for the night. 

“Yeah..” She looked down at her shoes, her skirt matching flawlessly with the design of the sneakers. Her skin developed goosebumps as a breeze past by them. 

After a moment of standing in cold air, Kyla went to open her front door but Tyler’s voice paused her actions.

”Are you going to be busy after school tomorrow?” He asked in a rush, closing his eyes as he tried calming his eagerness.

She thought over her schedule before shaking her head, her finger placed over her chin when she replied. “No, why?”

Tyler smiled to her and dropped his hand from his hair, his arm swinging freely to his side.

“A couple of my friends from the basketball team are throwing a party and I was wondering if you wanted to come?”

Kyla processed the question and felt a small smile cross over her face, the sleeves of her jacket hiding her hands to avoid the cold.

”I’ve never been to a party before.” She admitted embarrassingly, hoping Tyler wouldn’t comment anything hurtful or judgmental.

Tyler’s eyebrows furrowed as he continued smiling to the dark haired girl, feeling the buzzing of his phone in his front pocket against the thin cotton of his jeans.

”It’s fun, you’ll have a good time. Plus, I’ll be there and so will the rest of the group, so you don’t need to worry about being alone.” He reassured her, his words bringing comfort to Kyla and stopping her rushing thoughts. 

“Okay, I’ll go. Be the life of the party.” She joked and Tyler chuckled as he looked down at his phone, licking his dry lips and glancing back up to Kyla.

”I better get going, my mom’s freaking out.” Tyler rolled his eyes, waving to the girl as he started off down the sidewalk. 

“Bye.” She waved back, watching him walk off before opening her front door and closing it gently behind her. She stood with her back against the hard wood for a moment, a content expression left on her face.

”Whatchu smiling about?” Her sister raised her eyebrow in Kyla’s  direction, holding a bag of popcorn in her arms.

”Nothin’.” Kyla strutted off upstairs to her room, passing the curious girl and shutting her bedroom door happily. 

 _”A party..”_ She whispered to herself, wiping off the fair of makeup on her face, holding the wipe to her chest as she stared at herself in the mirror. 


	4. Live like Animals

Kyla stared at herself in the mirror, adjusting the clips that held back her long strands of dark hair and huffed out a breath. Her hands smoothed down her shirt to rid of the wrinkles, her denim jacket just angled over her shoulders to display the design across her chest.

She was nervous. She wasn’t sure how this party would play out and she really was trying her best to keep her composure under check. She didn’t want to walk in smelling like party virgin meat and make it obvious to everyone around her. 

She continued to look over herself, stepping closer to the mirror to perfect any flaw that stood out; dabbing her finger over the coloring on her lips and eyeshadow.

She could still back out before things got messy. She had no doubt that her friends would be understanding of the decision, getting off home free and easing her worry.

But, that would make her look bad.

She groaned, her hands coming over her face and she shook her head, breathing in deeply before exhaling. 

“God, this is so lame. It’s just a party.” She said out loud, steadying her edge and trudging back to her bed, sitting down with a sigh. 

She tilted her head at her image in the mirror, her eyes tracing down her calves in the jeans she wore and the way her shoulders arched when she moved—her phone dinging and cutting her off from the analyzation. 

Her hands fell to her lap and she glanced to the phone besides her, moving closer to read the text that appeared over the lock.

_**chantel** : outside. hurry up. _

Kyla stood, looking into the mirror one more time before grabbing her phone and pocketing it. She dashed down the stairs, her hand clasping around the railing tightly to hold her balance. 

“Be back before midnight!” Her mom called from the kitchen, Kyla’s hands rushing to grab the house key that sat in a round bowl on the hallway table. 

“‘Kay!” She answered, shutting the door behind her and turning the key into the lock swiftly. She heard a car honk and rolled her eyes, walking the path that lead down her lawn to the street. 

Abby pushed opened the door to the backseat, letting Kyla hop in gracefully and pull the door shut. She positioned herself into a comfortable space, yanking the seatbelt around her waist and letting go after she heard the click.

”Where’s Tyler?” She asked, looking around the crowded car for the other and coming up empty handed.

”He said he was gonna meet us there.” Hannah replied from up front, turning to glance back at Kyla. She nodded, keeping her gaze out the car window at the setting sun. 

Chantel had her head against the seat, her forehead nearly knocking into the window as Lysh drove, Kirst’s head situated on the girl’s shoulder.

Nobody was excited as Kyla thought they’d be, the boring atmosphere bringing Kyla’s energy down a little and she brought her hand to her forehead.

They were in the car for about ten minutes until Lysh finally parked across the street from the hosted house. They each bounced out, making sure the doors shut properly before crossing over to the other side of the block. 

Chantel slugged her feet as she walked, her shoulders postured and her head keeping in line in the air. Kyla frowned, inching closer to Hannah as they walked, nearing the house and being able to make out the music coming from inside. 

”What’s her deal?” She whispered, gesturing to Chantel’s annoyed demeanor.

”Becca was talking shit at the cheer meet earlier.” She shrugged, following the girls as they entered the house. Loud music and voices rang in Kyla’s ears and she felt her heart beat pick up in speed. 

She studied everyone, watching people dance in the middle of the room and talk amongst themselves. She stuck close to her friends, trailing behind Hayley. 

She kept her nose up high, her eyes searching for someone specific across the room. She pouted, sending a small smile to Hannah as the girl handed her a red plastic cup.

”What’s in it?” She questioned, peering down into the cup at the liquid.

”It’s just punch..at least I think it is.” Hannah eyed her own in her hand, sniffing it and causing Kyla to snort.

Kyla brought the rim to her mouth, her lips parting slightly and tilted her head a little back as the drink poured into her mouth. She scrunched her nose, swallowing the fruity yet bitter taste before turning to Hannah.

”No go?” Hannah sipped hers, watching Kyla shake her hand in front of her and point towards the drinks.

”I think there’s something else in it.” She smacked her lips, her tongue poking out of her mouth in the girl’s direction. Hannah laughed, looking behind Kyla into the kitchen and spotted the punch bowl.

”Sneaky.” 

Kyla’s eyes met another’s over Hannah’s shoulder, the girl’s expression switching to a more enthusiastic form as the familiar face smiled back at her.

Tyler waved his hand over the heads of the randoms between he and Kyla, carefully moving through the crowd to get to the girl.

Kyla contained her snickers as she watched the boy and his efforts, Hannah catching on of the two and smiling as she turned away, walking outside into the backyard with a hand over her mouth.

”What’s up?” Tyler greeted, finally arriving to Kyla’s area in the front of the room. Kyla drank from her cup again, holding down the thick liquid and smirking at Tyler.

”This party’s pretty boring. I don’t think it’s for me.” She remarked, her arm coming across her chest as her left hand held up her drink. 

Tyler chuckled, shooting a finger gun to the red cup and leaned his shoulder against the wall. 

“Hopefully, me and _that_  can switch things up.” He joked, jumping a little when he felt hands on his shoulders. Chantel walked around, Kyla pursing her lips as the shorter girl’s sudden presence.

”I see you two gravitated towards each other yet again.” She mocked, holding a ping pong ball in her hand and threw it towards Tyler. “They’re playing pong outside, come join.” She gestured her thumb behind her, continuing past them and into the kitchen. 

Kyla nodded to the open glass sliding door, nudging Tyler along and walking out with him towards the hooting group on the patio. A long ash colored table separated them from the grass surroundings, everyone focused on Abby as she angled her arm in the air.

She tossed the ping pong ball, aiming for the plastic cups in the back of the organized triangle. Agitated boos crossed the group when the ball bounced off the cups and onto the floor.

“Aw, fuck.” She held up her hands, her palms squeezed into a ball as she sulked back to her spot on the concrete by Hannah.

Picking up the ball nuzzled in the grass, Kirst gripped it tightly in her hands as she stepped up for her turn, eyeing the table for which cup to hope for. She jumped as she threw it, closing her eyes for a moment. 

She awed at the noisy cheers, flipping her freshly faded dyed pink hair off her shoulder and held her head up high before breaking down into a fit of giggles. Hayley lifted her hands in her direction, the girls sharing a double high five as Kirst sat down.

”Let me try.” Tyler said, getting closer to the table and situated his feet to balance his body fairly. He held the ball Chantel gave him, squinting his eyes to add dramatic effect and glanced back at Kyla, the girl rolling her eyes as he sniffled a laugh. 

“Throw the damn ball already!” A guy shouted, laughter erupting around Tyler and he scoffed. He positioned his hand before sending the ball flying right past the cups, bouncing off at the other end of the table and onto the ground.

Tyler threw his hands up in the air, a frown on his face disappearing as he replaced it with a smirk. He brought his left hand up and steadied his fingers, leaving his lone middle finger to raise in the air.

”See! You messed me up, Josh!” He complained, shaking the finger before burying it in his armpit when the other male ran up to him.

”You’re supposedly the best player on the bball team. You should be good at this!” The darker hue said, his knuckles digging deep into Tyler’s scalp as the smaller built boy struggled against his grasp. 

Kyla had her hand over her mouth, listening to Tyler’s protests from Josh’s tight hold. She raised her eyebrow, her first impression of her friend’s fellow making her giggle. 

“Okay, time out, time out—I said time out!” Tyler kept yelling, his laughter growing louder over Josh’s sticky fingers. Josh dropped his hands from off Tyler’s body, the boys parting with heavy breaths and Tyler sprawled his form out on the concrete.

“You guys are idiots.” Abby taunted, bringing her soda to her lips and sipped from it. Tyler closed his eyes, catching his breath slowly and held up his hand in Abby’s path, dismissing her words. 

“He started it..” Tyler said lowly, his hand reaching up and burying into his thick hair, opening his eyes as sat up. His eyes met Kyla’s and he smiled, his hand pushing himself up off the ground and he dusted off his jeans.

”Ah..” He trailed off, flicking Josh in the head for the other to turn around. Josh glared up at Tyler, bouncing up and moved quickly to drag his friend back down in another wrestling match.

”Kyla, this is Josh—the prick I was telling you about.” He hissed under his breath and Josh squinted his eyes. He held his hand out for the girl and Kyla gawked, taking note of the gentle touch Josh returned.

”Hi.” She smiled shyly, bringing her hand back to herself and wrapped her arm around her waist. 

“Aw, you talk about me?” Josh gushed, his hands coming to fold under his chin and he blinked his eyes in Tyler’s direction. 

“Shut up.” Tyler glared, a small smile playing on his lips as he shoved his shoulder into Josh’s. 

Josh swung his arm over Tyler’s shoulder, tilting his head a little to the right as he pointed towards the glass window, the view of the party inside clear from outside as the lights flared in the dark of the backyard. 

“Jenna’s been looking for you, by the way.” He muttered, the hushed tone seemingly only meant for his friend besides him. 

Kyla’s eyes followed Josh’s finger and she peeped over her shoulder, gazing through the window in confusion before glancing back at the boys. 

“Of course she has.” Tyler sighed, nudging off Josh’s arm and he met Kyla’s face again, his frown lifting into a friendly smile and he tapped Kyla’s cup. 

“I’ll go get you some more.” He offered and Kyla nodded slowly, the cup slipping out of her grip and into Tyler’s secure hold. 

After Tyler walked back inside, there was a moment of awkwardness between the two, silence lingering in the breeze and Kyla cleared her throat, the action causing Josh to look up from staring at the ground.

”So..” She started, slightly nibbling on her lip as she thought over a conversation starter.

“I assume you and Tyler have been friends for a long time?” 

She already knew the answer but she wasn’t sure how she was meant to carry the back and forth banter with someone she didn’t know very well. Starting with something she was certain of felt more logical than jumping into a long talk of a random topic. 

Josh nodded, his hand digging into one of his front pockets as he turned his body away from facing the window, his eyes roaming over the many faces of people in the yard. 

“Yep, for as long as I can remember. I’m guessing you’re new here?” Josh angled his head sideways, his eyes parting from staring at Lysh and another tall girl caught in conversation with her by the pong table.

Kyla held his eye contact, his dark brown pools pulling her in and she smiled fondly to the boy in front of her. She lifted her hand and gestured as she talked, her finger moving around in front of them.

”Yeah, I used to live in Cali. Now I live close by here.” She shrugged, looking back over her shoulder to see if Tyler was still inside and questioned what was taking him so long. 

“California, huh? Ms. Hot Shot.” Josh said, his jester words bringing a grin across Kyla’s face. She brushed her hair over her shoulder, a smack echoing off her lips. 

“I come from Hollywood, so yes, I would say I am _Ms. Hot Shot_.” She played along, the two breaking into a joint laughter before calming when Lysh came over to them. 

Kyla overlooked the girl that followed behind her friend, quietly observing the affectionate hold she had around Lysh’s waist, her arm draped sheepishly.   

“You guys finally met! Tyler’s two favorite people coming together.” Lysh greeted and Josh eyed her for a second, squinting in her direction. 

Kyla blinked, her cheeks tinting a slight blush color and she looked down at her shoe. Josh rubbed his face, shaking his head slowly and pulled an expression to Lysh after Kyla turned her view. 

_Two favorite people._

_What’s that supposed to mean?_

“When did this happen? Were you planning to never introduce us to this lovely lady?” Josh narrowed his eyebrows, his finger switching between the two girls with a charming smile. 

Lysh rolled her eyes, smacking Josh’s hand out in front of them. Kyla’s eyebrows knitted into a fine line, ignoring their back and forth as her mind raced with a variety of possible outlooks. 

“Two favorite people..” She whispered to herself, her friends not picking up on her quiet words. 

“Ava the pizza girl, has an interesting ring to it.” Josh tapped his chin and Ava laughed, turning to Lysh with a beaming grin. 

Kyla peered over her shoulder again, this time loud shouting had drawn her attention. Lysh followed the wave of people that crowded into the living room of the house, her friends close behind.

Kyla glued to Josh’s side, confused at the sudden yelling. She stood between Lysh and Josh, trying to peek over the people that formed into a huddle.

“What’s going on?” She asked, Josh shrugging in reply as Lysh angled herself to get a better view. 

“Oh my god..” She said, a hand coming over her mouth when she saw her smaller friend and another girl in the middle of the room. 

“What?” Kyla tried again, frustrated at he tall people blocking the scene. 

Lysh broke out into laughter, shaking her head as she looked back at Kyla.

”Chantel’s arguing with Becca.” She calmed her hysterics, moving her arms through the crowd so Kyla can see. 

“Becca? What’s she doing here?” Kyla rubbed her head confusingly.

Kyla looked through the gap Lysh created, her eyes going over the random people in the circle before landing on her curly haired friend. 

Chantel was pacing, one of the red cups from earlier crinkled in her grip while her other hand was kept pointed in Becca’s direction. 

“Wait is she...is she _drunk_?” Kyla glanced up to Lysh and the other started laughing again. Kyla watched closely at Chantel’s actions, her words fumbling out of her mouth. 

“Why you always talking shit, huh?” Chantel confronted the girl and the crowed moved closer, making the circle tighter. 

Becca rolled her eyes, waving her hand towards Chantel carelessly. 

“Nobody has time to talk about you.” She retorted, the crowd oohing and only causing Chantel’s anger to boil more.

“You’re so pathetic. All talk but no action.” She slurred, her hand gesturing in puppetry and she continued her pacing in front of the girl.

“ _I’m_ pathetic? You’re the one drooling all over yourself right now.” She remarked, letting the people around them laugh at her words. 

Chantel stopped, her back hunched for a moment as she threw her cup into the crowd before pouncing on Becca, bringing the two to the floor. 

“Oh shit!” Someone called and then everyone started hooting, their arms moving around in the air as they encouraged the fight.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Kyla covered her mouth with two hands, rushing to the girls to stop them. She pushed people, running quickly to her friend. She picked up Chantel’s glasses from off the floor, making sure they were okay and put them in her pocket. 

“Chantel!” She yelled, her eyebrows raised as she stood by the two as she stomped her foot.

Chantel didn’t respond, now straddling Becca’s waist and swung her fist so it made contact with the girl’s cheek, the hard hits loud enough to be heard. Each punch resulted in the huddle making shocked shouts. 

Becca whimpered, pushing Chantel off of her torso by pulling her hair and the shorter girl shrieked, falling onto her back on the floor. Becca tried to slap her but Chantel rolled before she could lower her hand, bouncing back up to her feet and running to kick Becca.

Kyla threw her hands onto Chantel, pulling her friend towards her chest and away from the crowd, spotting Tyler holding a blonde girl and ignored his stare. 

She dragged her past everyone and pushed her out the front door, the girl landing on the lawn face first with a hard thud. 

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Kyla exclaimed and Chantel groaned in response. Her hand reached up to feel her face before she fell back down into the grass. 

Kyla’s heart was beating so fast, she felt it was going to pump put of her chest. She sat on the steps of the house, her eyes trailing over Chantel’s weak form. 

“Hello?” She stood up, nudging her shoe into the girl’s side but Chantel didn’t answer, her limp body spread out on the lawn and she reached down to move her hair out of Chantel’s face. Chantel’s eyes were closed, bits of blood trickling from her lip and forehead and Kyla sighed. 

“Jesus.” She shook her head, crossing her legs besides her friend and texted the group chat, demanding that her friends take her and Chantel home. 

“Rough night?” A boy dressed in a black flannel called out to her, leaning against a blue car parked in front of the house. 

“To say the least.” Kyla mumbled, looking up from her phone at the sudden voice. The boy crossed the lawn, sitting down next to her and stretched his leg out. 

“I’m Adrian.” He said, observing the annoyed girl to his right. 

“Kyla.” She replied bluntly, messing with the grass they were sat on. 

”You don’t look like the type to party, Kyla.” Adrian tilted his head, seeing Chantel’s just about dead body on the other side of Kyla.

“She alright?” He pointed to her and Kyla rolled her eyes, looking back at the boy. 

“This was supposed to be my first party but it all went to shit.” She spoke, her tone sounding exhausted and matched her saddened appearance. 

“It’s madness. You get use to it.” Adrian peered up to the sky, watching the dark blue colors morph into black. 

Kyla snorted, shaking her head disappointingly. 

“Yeah and I only came because I was expecting this guy I like to ask me out.” She muttered, realizing now how ridiculous she sounded.

Adrian booed, bumping his shoulder into Kyla’s. 

“What happened?” He asked, his arm holding himself up as he studied Kyla’s face in the moonlight.

”He was with this other girl.” She cringed, feeling a pain in her chest at the sight of Tyler with the girl—whom she assumed was the Jenna he and Josh were referring to. 

“That sucks, man. Sorry that happened to you.” Adrian sympathized, listening to the crickets that chirped around them. Kyla smiled sadly, feeling her throat swell up and her eyes start to water. 

“It’s okay, I guess. I’ve only known him for a couple of months anyway.” She gestured her hand, sprinkling the pieces of grass she plucked on the ground.

Her eyes started to sting and she sniffled softly, feeling a hand squeeze her shoulder. 

“You need a ride home?” Adrian offered, standing up off the lawn and reached his hand out for Kyla’s.

”That’d be great, thanks.” She took his hand and let him lift her up, straightening out her jacket and went to wake up Chantel. 

“I’ll get her, you can wait in the car.” He pointed to the blue vehicle across from them and Kyla nodded slowly. He watched her walk away before he reached down to the girl fast asleep, tapping her face to try and wake her up but Chantel didn’t move. 

He carried her bridle style, carefully opening the door to the back seat and buckled her into the car. He walked around the hood of the car to the driver’s side and got in. 

The only sound of the engine played as Adrian drove, every now and then a few sniffles came from the passenger’s side. 

Kyla stared out the car window, observing the dark shadows of the trees that flew by and gazed up to the moon, her tearful eyes glistening against the light.

_Two favorite people._


	5. Path Ahead’s Uneven

Kyla sat, the world seemingly passing her by as she watched _him_ and _her_  share flirtatious words and intimate giggles from across the lunch table. 

Her friends conversations around her were turned into a blur and she felt it was just herself and _them_. 

It was like they were purposely putting on a show just to get a reaction out of her. She pretended that it didn’t bother her despite the amounts of nights she’s cried herself to sleep and having now spending most weekends inside to avoid seeing him during activities with their friends.

Everything told otherwise.

She continued to stare, catching Tyler’s eyes at an angle after he looked up from his food and the contact felt like it lasted forever. 

The swirls in his eyes made her chest feel heavy and she traced the light brown strokes and slight greens that mixed into one, the combination that created the hazel color all people naturally adored and yearned for.

She compared them to her own dark orbs; her solid color that wasn’t very spectacularly evident in the darkness and even appeared to be black at times. The dusky brown timber that when shine sunlight upon stood out so vividly. 

Two very different contrasts, two very different guises that both held something more complex hidden under the surface that most people didn’t even bother to ponder of. 

Their physical eye shapes were as near same but not exact. Hers were more cat-like and that of an almond style that complimented her facial structure. Hers were positioned reasonably and were fit to where they drew the most attention. 

Whereas with Tyler’s, his sparked an electricity that felt bolder than hers. His shape, sharing the almond family tree, was more downcast. A deep set kind of reflect that almost left an intimidating surge but as well as an interest to what humans would consider attractive on a person.

It was like they had swapped the color codes they were actually meant to be gifted of with one another. 

Kyla’s lips started to lift upwards slowly, her thoughts causing a fuzzy feeling to wash over her but she stopped herself from reacting.

Neither she nor Tyler went to break the glare but when someone addressed Kyla, the girl forced herself to look away. 

“Huh?” She paused, glimpsing around the table at the sudden silence.

”I said: are you coming with us to cheer practice or not?” Hannah repeated herself. 

Kyla nodded, the ease of everyone’s eyes no longer set on her and helping her thoughts flow again. She didn’t turn back to Tyler and instead lifted the sandwich she had taken little bites of in her hand and stood up from her seat. 

She walked away from the table, tossing her food on cue of the school bell ringing and tread to her class, moving alone through the hall in no wait of her friends.  

* * *

“Steady..” Hannah pulled her leg up high in the air, her voice firm as she directed the other girls on the team. She kept her leg risen, making sure they all felt the tight burn that ached throughout their leg. 

The girls groaned, throwing complaints to Hannah but she only pulled her leg back further, carrying the strain for another minute. 

“Alright, take five.” Hannah dismissed the girls and they all parted ways, Chantel collapsing onto the gym floor in exhaustion as Hayley continued to stretch during the free time. 

Hannah walked over to the bleachers, her hand situated on her hip as she drank from her water bottle. 

“I don’t even know why she bothered coming.” She spoke, placing her bottle back down on the bench besides Abby and gestured to the lone girl in the back. 

Abby followed Hannah’s path, her eyes falling on Kyla whom was sat to the far left of the gym, her back up against the wall as she observed everyone else. 

“She’s been acting so weird lately.” Hannah continued, now sitting next to the other girl. She took sips of the water, squeezing the bottle between her hands. 

“You’ve noticed, too?” Abby glanced to the light brown haired other and watched as she nodded. 

“Ever since the party.” 

They focused on their friend for a moment, a lingering silence of concern airing before Hannah clapped her hands and dashed off to the group. 

Abby retreated back to her stance, her mind still wandering to Kyla and decided she would ask the girl of her status after practice.

They did a couple more stretches before they started on the actual routine, having to practice as much as they can for the basketball game coming up next week. 

Hannah was set on the team doing well as coaches from colleges were going to be attending the game to decided whether any of the girls were worthy of giving a scholarship to and she felt the anxiety of having to be responsible for something so huge and life changing carry weight on her shoulders.

As the leader, she couldn’t risk something go wrong and ruin any chances the girls could have. Just the thought made her want to puke her brains out. 

One long hour of strict practicing later,  everyone was ready to go home. Their arms felt sore from having to hold each other up and Chantel kept protesting that her legs were going to snap in half from the weight if they continued any longer.

They all gathered their bags, waiting for Kyla to return from using the restroom so they could leave. Becca went to grab her stuff, sending a deathly glare to Chantel from across the gym, the bruises on her cheekbones hinting a purple color as they healed.

“See you Friday, lovely.” Chantel mocked, twinkling her fingers in the girl’s direction as she winked. She blew a kiss, her lips forming into a duck face and Becca rolled her eyes. 

Chantel couldn’t make out Becca’s mutters and only scoffed in response, pulling the strings of her sports bag tightly over her shoulders. 

“You gotta stop instigating or you’ll have a repeat of what happened last time.” Kirst flicked Chantel’s arm and the shorter girl scowled, pushing her shoulder into her friend’s. 

“That’s fine with me. Skank deserves it.” 

Kirst shook her head, her mouth hanging open as her lips formed into a shocked grin at Chantel’s harsh use of insults. 

“Alright, let’s go.” Hayley started off into a walk after catching sight of Kyla. They all trailed to Lysh’s car parked behind the school, the sun slowly setting off in the horizon. 

They slumped into the back seat, Chantel shouting shotgun before anyone else had the chance to open their mouth and Lysh drove off, the dull red bricks of their school soon appearing further away in view. 

“Can we get something to eat?” Hannah grumbled, patting her stomach loudly for Lysh to hear. 

“What you want?” 

“Denny’s.” Hayley answered and received a fair share of confused expressions but nobody went against the random suggestion. Lysh changed the direction of her driving, going down the route of the diner.

Chantel fiddled with the radio, turning the dial of the old stereo and skipped between stations, the breaks of songs starting to bring headaches to everyone in the car. 

“Enough.” Lysh demanded, swatting the younger’s hand away from the dashboard. Chantel sat back for a moment, her arms crossed over her chest before she reached out to change the song again.

“God...” Kyla drew out the word in an annoyed manner, lifting her head from off the car window to look at the girl.

“Come on, it was _The Chainsmokers_. Nobody wants to hear that shit.” Chantel exclaimed, her hand dropping from the stereo after finding a station she felt happy with. 

Everyone was quiet during the drive, listening to the music Chantel chose that sounded like it could have easily came out of a mainstream hipster’s playlist of early _2000s_ rock songs.  

Abby turned to Kyla, the two squeezed next to each other and close enough for them to be separate from the others.

She took her chance of the private conversation and adjusted her frame to block out Hannah on her right. 

“You okay?” She asked, awaiting for Kyla’s reply. 

Kyla glanced to Abby, her head against the headrest of the seat and she wrapped her arms around her waist.

”I’m fine.” She said, going to turn her head back to face the window. 

“You sure? You’ve been a little distant lately.” Abby pressed on, making sure her tone didn’t come off as nosey or intrusive. 

Kyla sighed, staring back at Abby’s large doe eyes. She nodded, her mouth rising into a lopsided smile. 

“Just been tired.” She excused, watching as Abby’s expression changed and loosened. 

“Okay. But if you need anything..” Abby offered, bumping her knee into Kyla’s affectionately. The act caused Kyla to turn away, the girl’s chest feeling flooded of harsh breathes she wanted to release. 

On the other side of the car, Chantel was causing chaos, moving her seat up and down so that it squished Kirst underneath it.  

“Why are you being like this?” Kirst cried out, pushing up against the chair’s cushion to protect her legs. Hannah helped, her arms reaching across Hayley to hold back the seat from adjusting downward. 

Chantel stopped abruptly, gripping the handle on the side of her seat and brought it up. She held tightly, the chair now moving so far forward to the point that it started pushing her into the dashboard. 

She started screeching, laughter mixed with panic echoing throughout the car as her face squashed against the hard plastic of the glove department. 

“Can’t you act your age for one day?” Lysh shook her head, turning into the parking lot of the restaurant and let the car settle into a halt. Everyone got out and watched Chantel struggle in the seat, her hand waving around for the handle frantically.

“Wait, I can’t reach it!” She called out, her eyebrows furrowing as her eyes widened. She continued swiping for the ledge, her fingers just centimeters away. 

Kirst had her hand over her mouth, giggling to herself at her friend’s actions. She let the girl try some more, each time to no avail. 

Finally, after enjoying the show, Kirst opened the car door and helped Chantel move the seat back into place. Chantel unbuckled her belt quickly and hopped out, running into Hannah as she tried to get away from the car as far as possible. 

Lysh poked the red imprint on Chantel’s cheek, shaking her hand out in front of her when Chantel smacked her away.

“Karma.” Kirst teased and skipped in front of the group, leaving Chantel to sulk behind. Chantel mumbled under her breath, entering the diner after Abby and jogged to lead the way towards a booth in the back. 

Kyla peered around the small establishment, analyzing the decor before stopping in her tracks when a familiar face came into view.

”You’ve got to be kidding me.” She said out loud, Abby being the only one who heard and turned back to her. 

“What?”

”Of course.” She muttered, speeding passed Abby and sat next to Hannah in the booth. She kept her back facing the person, darting her eyes down at her lap. 

Abby followed confusingly, situating herself besides Kyla and across from Lysh. Hayley went to grab salt and pepper from another table and placed it in front of the group, squeezing in next to Lysh on the side with Chantel and Kirst.

A waiter came over and wrote down all their orders, smiling friendly to the girls before walking away. 

“You were just craving Denny’s?” Chantel questioned, leaning into the table to look at Hayley as she sipped from her lemonade. 

“It happens, man.” Hayley shrugged, laughing along with the other. 

Kyla kept her head down, her chin resting on her hand as she twirled the ice cubes around in her soda with her straw, fighting the urge to look back. 

Chantel called for the waiter once more and asked for a kid’s menu, wanting to color with the crayons they provided and participate in the games on the paper sheets. 

The waiter hesitated for a moment, caught off guard from the question but obliged, walking away expressionless after placing the thin menu in front of a very eager Chantel. 

Kirst picked up one of the crayons, coloring along with the girl as they decorated a fruit basket and shaded a soft red to the drawing of an apple.

Their food arrived shortly and the table was silent as they each ate from their meals. Hayley dribbled warm syrup over her pancakes with a blissful smile. 

Chantel plucked at the fries on Kirst’s plate, smirking evilly when Kirst squinted at her. 

“You have your own!” She pointed to Chantel’s half eaten meal, the girl’s fries cooling by the minute. 

“But yours taste better.” 

“Ugh.” Kirst moved her plate between them, the food in close reach of Chantel, giving into her friend’s ways. She gladly took from Chantel’s food, chewing a chicken tender happily. 

“So, Kyla, are you going to skip this weekend, too?” Lysh ignored the children she sat with, feeling like she was on a babysitting job and peered up to Kyla’s silent demeanor. 

Kyla set her fork down on her plate, stopping her action of poking at her food lifelessly. She pouted to Lysh, nodding her head at the question. 

“Yeah, Adrian said he wanted to hang out.” She answered and rubbed her cheek with her finger knuckle as she felt the atmosphere shift awkwardly. 

“So what? You two dating now?” Chantel asked rudely, tearing a chicken tender in her hands and nibbled on the piece. 

Kyla glared at the girl, a taken back from the sudden question. She gulped slowly, scratching her arm as she thought of a way to answer. 

“No. I mean, not really.” She said truthfully, her fork now back in her grip and she continued to pick at the uneaten waffles that were now soggy from the syrup that absorbed into the crevices.

“ _Not really_?” Hannah looked up, her shoulder against the booth’s cushion as she turned her body to face the girl. 

Kyla sighed, the heavy air from earlier finally coming forward. She squished the fork into the waffle, staring into the plate as she explained. 

“He hasn’t asked me to be his girlfriend.”

”Why?” Abby listened, setting her drink down in front of her, now believing the cause of Kyla’s odd behavior was due to this boy. 

Kyla shrugged, wishing they’d all stop bombarding her with this uncomfortable trivia. She didn’t even think of Adrian as someone to date, she really only just liked ranting to him about things that were on her mind. 

Things like...

”Hey guys.” Tyler greeted their table, leaving Jenna to walk out to his car alone after they had finished their dinner.

Speak of the devil. 

“What the hell? How long have you been here?” Lysh stared up at the boy confusingly, tossing her napkin onto her empty plate. 

“I don’t know, for like, half an hour. You didn’t notice me when you walked in?” 

“Nope.” Chantel chewed on her straw, handing the paper she and Kirst colored on over to Tyler. He took it, shaking his head at the immaturity of his friends. 

He squatted by the table, his arms holding his balance as he folded the paper, creating a small airplane with it.

“Just checking the plans for Saturday are still on?” He looked around the table, pretending to be oblivious of Kyla’s figure. 

“Yeah, but Kyla’s not coming.” Abby pointed out, helping the waiter that stood above Tyler clean up their table and handed her the money Lysh set out. Tyler ducked his head, sending the plane flying in Chantel’s direction.

”No? How come?” 

“She rather fool around with her new _boyfriend_ than be with her best friends.” Chantel teased, blowing a raspberry to Kyla and the girl rolled her eyes. 

“Boyfriend?” Tyler stood up, his eyes quickly casting to Kyla and she shuttered under his glare. 

“He’s not my boyfriend-“

”His name is Adrian.” Chantel fluttered her eyelashes at Tyler, a sly smile inching across her face as she observed the boy’s change in body language.

“Adrian?”

”Adrian something, I forgot his last name. He’s tan and has this, like, disconnected undercut and this skinny ass diamond jawline. Oh, and he has glasses like mine.” Chantel blabbered, tapping the rims of her glasses, sweeping the airplane against Kirst’s nose. 

“I guess Kyla doesn’t have that bad in taste of guys.” She added on, making little airplane noises as she flew it through the air in front of Kirst’s face, the girl stealing the paper from Chantel and setting it on the table. 

Tyler’s jaw dropped as Kyla hissed at Chantel, the pain of her headache growing stronger and she closed her eyes briefly. 

“Adrian Gomez.” Tyler stated, his expression dropping grimly and his eyebrows knitted together into a fine dark line as he returned his stare to Kyla. 

“Yeah, I think that’s it.” Chantel held out her pointer finger towards Tyler, moving the airplane across the table in front of her, her cheeks puffed out innocently. 

“You’re dating Adrian Gomez?” Tyler’s tone changed drastically and everyone caught on of the sudden tension.

”Woah, what’s with the attitude?” Abby adjusted in the booth, her arm out so it blocked Kyla securely.

”Yeah, why’re you getting so upset?” Hannah questioned, her eyebrows furrowed at the boy. 

”Because he’s an asshole, that’s why.” Tyler gritted his teeth, his energy spooking the girls and Hayley stood from her spot.

“I’m-a go wait in the car.” She waved and Lysh followed her out, leaving the five girls behind. 

Tyler slipped into the empty seat, his arms laid out on the table as he fiddled with a bundled up napkin. 

“Well, he treats me nicely.” Kyla said softly, keeping herself from looking up at Tyler. 

“Only because he wants to get into your pants.” Tyler voiced aggressively and Kirst gasped, her eyes wide from his words.

“Okay, easy there, Big Guy.” Chantel slapped his arm, gawking at his hostility. 

“What makes you think that?” Hannah grimaced.

“Because I know what he’s like—he gets with girls only to use them and break their hearts.” Tyler bad mouthed, folding the napkin into a tiny square. 

“And I should trust your word for it, right?” Kyla retorted, now glancing up at Tyler for his reaction. 

There was a pause, the girls passing looks amongst themselves as Tyler and Kyla faced each other. Tyler squinted his eyes slightly, feeling at target of Kyla’s tone. 

“If you had any brains, you would.” He tossed the napkin onto the table, standing from the booth and turned back to Kyla once more. 

“But you’ve already proved that you don’t if you’re even messing around with him in the first place.” He remarked audaciously and walked around the booth, pushing open the diner’s door and into a walk to his car. 

Jenna titled her head at her boyfriend’s fast action, looking through the window into the restaurant curiously as Tyler started the engine.

They listened as he drove away, the conversation taking a turn and leaving them in silence. 

Kyla urged herself not to choke up, tapping Abby gently so she would let her stand and crossed her arms as she trudged to Lysh’s car. 

She didn’t say a word on the drive home, quickly thanking Lysh for the meal and ride and unlocked her front door, feeling her friend’s eyes burn into her back.

She shut it with a thud, gripping the stair’s railing tightly as she pushed herself up the steps. She threw her cheer bag onto the floor, stripping of her shoes sluggishly before burying her head into her pillow. 

Kyla let out a wretched sob, her throat scratchy and itchy as her tears traveled down her cheeks, soaking into the softness of the pillow and causing her chest to heave. 

The act carried for an hour, mostly sniffles meaning to be silent now being heard throughout her quiet room. She blinked, feeling the crystallization result of the hot, salty liquid that was beginning to dry around her eyes. 

She stared into the darkness, the decor of her room hard to make out. She breathed in slowly, exhaling roughly and coughed, clearing her throat. 

Her phone buzzed, the screen’s lighting illuminating through the black surrounding her. She hesitated reaching for the object, waiting a minute or two before giving in and outstretched her arm, one hand clutching the pillow as the other swiped the phone screen.

 ** _> > adrian_**: _You up?_

She swallowed dryly, her eyes focusing in and defocusing. She rubbed her nose, her mind rushing with all kinds of thoughts and she bounced up from her bed. 

She threw on a jacket that was settled the floor, tying back into her shoes and then passed by the bathroom, swiftly turning back around to see her appearance in the mirror.

She tied her hair up into a ponytail, leaving two strands to sit on the sides of her face and she rushed down the stairs, exiting her house again and strutted down her block. 

She walked for about ten minutes before stopping outside a small brown house, breathing in deeply and carried down the pathway. She knocked firmly, awaiting for an answer and rubbed the sleeve of her jacket to her nose. 

Adrian stood in the doorway, puzzled by Kyla’s presence and went to speak, the action getting caught off when Kyla stepped closer to him and brushed her lips against his belligerently, the kiss lasting a couple seconds too long. 

She pushed him back, shutting the door behind herself and let the boy catch his breath. He stared back at her, his hand coming to his mouth and he looked down to his fingers. 

“What was that for?” He spoke, blinking in the girl’s direction. 

“For not being a dick.” She declared, walking over to him again and brought their faces closer by a pull of his jaw, her lips tugging his in a heat session as she moved their stance through the house she had gotten familiar with over the past month. 

They backed into a room, Kyla’s foot kicking the door shut as her heart and mind raced, blocking out any thoughts of what happened an hour ago, her hands moving around Adrian’s form subconsciously as she blacked out. 

* * *

 It was Saturday morning and Kyla hadn’t went to school for two days, ignoring the messages and calls her friends left her by turning off her phone so she wouldn’t have to hear the ringing. 

Her absence shouldn’t have been surprising. Everyone was there, they heard what Tyler had said to her. She wasn’t sure what they expected; for her to face them like nothing had happened?

Was that really what they thought would happen? After something so humiliating and hurtful?

Yeah, right.

She spent those two days with Adrian, sleeping over at his house and lying to her mom that she was with Hannah. She kept her mind busy, either with going to places with the boy or just staying in bed with him watching movies. 

Anything to subside the pain. 

Currently, she was walking back home to gather more clothes for another night, lost in her thoughts as she listened to the nature around her. 

She looked down at her worn converse shoes, tilting her head at the small hole that was starting to tear on the side of her foot. 

She lifted her head, her motion slowing as she neared her house. She stopped, eyeing the person sat on her doorsteps and sighed, continuing her way. 

“Aren’t you supposed to be with the girls?” She asked them, shuffling her keys from her pockets and held the bag full of old clothes over her shoulder. 

Tyler drew his attention to the sound of Kyla’s footsteps, letting the small rock he had been passing between his hands drop into the grass as he stood up. 

“I came to apologize.” He started, his eyes trailing down Kyla’s form before stopping at her unenthusiastic expression. 

Kyla scoffed, strutting past the boy and unlocked her front door, leaving it open as she traveled through her house. She set the bag on the washer, tossing in the clothes and shut the door, the sound of the machine starting up and she spun off to climb the stairs. 

Tyler twisted a brown curl of his hair around his finger, watching her swift movements and he shifted into the house awkwardly. 

Kyla carried the bag into her room, swinging open her closet door and skipped through the choices of items.

Tyler followed her upstairs, his hands held together as he stood in her bedroom doorway. 

“I shouldn’t have said things I did. I was just mad.” He continued, looking around Kyla’s room as the girl listened halfheartedly.

”You think?” She replied sarcastically, holding out a dark green shirt and threw it onto her bed. She moved the hangers forward, peering over the clothing. 

“Look, I know you don’t want to hear it but I really am sorry. I can’t stand the thought of you getting mixed up with the type of person that he is.” Tyler spoke in a hushed tone and he stared down to his hands, his fingers fiddling together. 

Kyla moved across the room, digging through her drawers for bottoms to pair with the tops she picked out. 

“ _The type of person that he is_? If this is just you coming to tell me to stop hanging out with him, you can leave.” Kyla said, her hand holding her hip as she looked at Tyler. 

Tyler rubbed his face, sighing as he closed his eyes at Kyla’s stubbornness. 

“He’s not who you think he is, seriously. He’ll only you hurt you.” 

Kyla shook her head, glancing down at the bag and shoved the clothes into it, she threw it over her shoulders, moving passed Tyler and walked into her bathroom.

”Why do you care so much, anyway? Don’t you have your own relationship to worry about?” Her voice echoed as she rummaged through the bathroom drawers for toiletries. She turned off the light, the bag bouncing as she stepped down the stairs. 

Tyler trailed behind, grabbing her wrist and turning her to face him. 

“I know him and what he’s capable of. Just stay away from him.” He demanded, his eyes dull in color and Kyla pulled her arm back, the friction parting. 

“Get out of my house.” She burrowed her hand to her chest, backing up into the kitchen counter as she watched Tyler leave, shutting the door behind himself. 

She brought her hand to her forehead, staring at the closed door in silence. She debated going after him, curious and confused of all the things he was saying about Adrian. 

She waited for a few minutes to pass by, giving the boy time to leave the premises so she could retreat back to Adrian’s house. 

She clutched the bag as she walked, her eyes downcast to the sidewalk and she bit her lip as she entered the house, the door closing gently behind her and she trudged down the hallway into the living room. 

Adrian was sat on the couch, his arm stretched out as he watched whatever movie was streaming on the tv. She stood for a moment, just studying the boy. She set the bag down on the coffee table Adrian had his foot rested upon, not taking her eyes off of him. 

She sat down, moving closer to rest her head on his shoulder before setting it on his chest. She felt his arm wrap around her, listening to his slow heartbeat. 

“What took you so long?” He broke the silence, his thumb stroking Kyla’s arm softly. She blinked a few times, unsure if she should tell the truth or come up with something on the spot. 

“Tyler wanted to talk to me.” She decided, adjusting her head so she could see the tv clearer. 

“What did he say?”

”He kept telling me I should stay away from you.” Kyla shut her eyes, uncertain of how the boy would react. 

“He did?” Adrian said, sitting up and reaching to the table to turn the volume down on the tv and glanced to Kyla.

Kyla moved to the other side of the couch, her knees drawn to her chest as she squished her form into the back of the couch. 

“He kept saying that you’re not who you say you are and that you’ll hurt me.” She confessed, her arm holding her elbow as she nibbled on the skin around her finger. 

Adrian was silent, his eyebrows furrowed in perplex. He turned away before looking back up to Kyla. 

“He’s probably just jealous.” He muttered, sliding down the couch so his head rest against the frame. 

“Why would he be jealous?” Kyla questioned, her arms sat on top of her knees. 

“Because he’s a hating coward.” Adrian rolled his eyes, his hands messing with his belt buckle.

Kyla pouted, lost in his words because she still didn’t understand why Tyler was so against her dating the boy.

“Why does he hate you?” She threw question after question at him, finally getting the full explanation she felt she deserved. 

Adrian sighed, pursing his lips and looked back at her. 

“We used to be friends, like, Sophomore year but then I started dating his sister and you know how brothers are.” He gestured in the air.

”All protective and shit.” He finished and Kyla nodded slowly, taking in the story and wondering back to the warnings Tyler was so persistent to her being aware of. 

She was quiet for a second, her eyes bouncing back and forth between Adrian and to the tv. 

“Okay, but why did he keep saying you would hurt me?” She asked once more, trying to piece everything together so it made more sense.

Adrian shrugged, leaning close to the table and held the tv remote in his hand, turning the volume back up. 

“Hell if I know.” He replied bluntly, relaxing back into the couch. 

Kyla bit the inside of her cheek, standing and picked up her bag, holding it closely to her chest. 

“I’m going to go shower.” She said and Adrian nodded, stretching his legs out on Kyla’s empty spot. 

She made her way to the bathroom, turning the lock on the knob and drew back the shower curtain. She turned the nozzle and water started sprinkling from the shower head, the room heating up with steam. 

She sat down on the toilet lid, processing the information she was given and reached for her bag. She fished for her phone, clicking a button with her thumb and waited for it to power back on. 

Notifications started flooding the screen: several missed calls from her friends and even from her mom but her eyes stopped on one text. 

 _ **> > tyler**_: _my house, monday after school? i’ll tell you everything._

She squinted suspiciously, opening the message and stared at the cursor as she thought of a reply. She sent a simple _okay_ and then shut off her phone, using it to lift her chin up before placing it on the counter. 

She took off her clothes and got into the shower, feeling the warm droplets of the water ease against her tensed back. She didn’t take long, stepping out and changing into bed wear and walked into Adrian’s bedroom, finding the youth already comfortable on the left side of the bed. 

She went back into the bathroom, her phone buzzing next to her as she brushed her teeth. She glanced to it, bent to read the notification. 

 ** _ >> tyler_**: _i truly am sorry._  

Kyla sighed, rinsing her mouth and cleaned off her toothbrush. Her bare feet tapped quietly on the wood flooring as she traveled back into the bedroom. 

She pulled the covers over herself, lying on her side as she texted the boy back. 

_**> > **it’s okay. _

She blinked, the little bubble appearing on screen and waited for him to finish typing. 

 ** _> > tyler_**: _it was just in the heat of the moment. i’d never intentionally make you upset._

She frowned, her thumbs moving across the keyboard to reassure the other, understanding his sincerity. 

 ** _> >_** _tyler, seriously, it’s fine._

She left it at that, closing the conversation and tucked her phone under her arm, feeling it vibrate but didn’t move to see what he sent.

She closed her eyes, her mind wandering before she slipped into unconsciousness, the last person she thought of being the apologetic boy and his puzzling words. 


End file.
